In Which Darcy Vlogs
by loudlovexx
Summary: Takes place after episode 78, Gigi convinces Darcy that the only way to win Lizzie over is with a Vlog confessing his feelings.
1. In Which Darcy Vlogs

"Georgiana, I don't know about this," William complained as he squinted from the bright light that was now in his face before she turned it off.

"It's the only way," his younger sister shrugged, all the while texting someone on her phone and giggling. "Believe me, the eag- I mean Lizzie will really appreciate the sentiment."

"Isn't this her thing, though? Why can't I just write it down in a letter how I feel about her? She really is quite bothersome, if I think about it. She's practically distracted me from getting anything done lately. She's all I can think of."

"You've already tried a letter and telling her in person, William. We agreed that this is the best way," Gigi said, turning on the camera so William could see the red light that meant that they were recording. She turned it off before sitting next to him. "Look, I'm just trying to help you out. A little sisterly advice-"

Darcy cut her off before she said anything else, "I think I've heard enough of your advice. And who is this we you are talking about?"

"Me and… Fitz."

"Fitz?"

"Yes, William, Fitz. We both know how perfect you guys are for each other and it is so ridiculous that you keep pretending you aren't."

"You sound like Lizzie's viewers."

Gigi blushed at the comment before standing and fiddling around with the camera so it focused on her brother's face.

"Georgiana, you watched the videos?"

"They fell into my lap, I couldn't resist. And the way she portrays you, it's not the William I, or Fitz, know! You have to show her the real you. You know, be vulnerable."

"If you watched, then you can sure recall the time I was rejected on camera for all of her viewers to see. I think that is quite vulnerable enough."

"William, that was before the letter. That was when she thought you ruined her sister and Bing's relationship just for kicks and giggles, which by the way you still need to fix, and it was when she thought you ruined that asshole's life."

"Wick-"

Gigi put her hand up and shook her head. "Don't say his name."

"Gigi, what is this going to do?"

"It's going to show her that you are willing to go above and beyond. And to top it all off, it's going to show her you are willing to do whatever and that includes wearing these!" Gigi held up a bow tie and a newsboy cap and walked over to him, slapping the cap on his head. "Perfect."

"This is positively ridiculous," he sighed, taking the hat off and pushing the bow tie away as well.

"Sister knows best," she insisted, putting the bow tie around his neck. "Trust me?"

"Fine."

"Then we're ready! I'll just sit out of the frame while you tell her how much you love her and want to be with her and how silly you've been these past months." Gigi moved away from her brother and sat on the desk in the office, out of sight of the camera.

"I'd rather do it by myself, Gigi," he paused, tying the bow tie into a knot around his neck and staring at his meddling sister. "I know you'll just stand by the door and listen," he chuckled, referring to the last video he had been in when Gigi forced him into Lizzie's taping, "but I just want to be by myself to film it. If I'm going to do this."

Gigi stood up, she would have done anything to get him to act on the plan that she and Fitz had carefully worked out. "Fine, but at least let me edit it when you're done. I want you to sound eloquent and put together."

"Don't I always?"

"Yes, but I'll really capture your vulnerable side." Gigi turned the camera on and gave her brother a kiss on the cheek before walking out. "Just be yourself," she said, squeezing his shoulder and closing the door behind her. As soon as she was outside, she put her ear to the door and listened in all while texting Fitz the updates.

Darcy took a few minutes to just stare at the camera, clearing his throat a few times and trying to find the words he wanted to say. He had watched her videos many times and thought that she had it easy, talking to a camera to a bunch of faces she didn't know, but now as he tried to do the same he realized how hard it was for him to express himself. He didn't know who to make the video out to, her or her viewers. He decided that this would be personal, despite it probably going out for thousands. If he was going to spill his heart, it would be straight to Lizzie.

"Lizzie," he started, looking around the room but not at the camera. He didn't like this at all. He was better with words when he could think them through, such as in a letter or a planned encounter. He didn't know what to say. He cleared his throat again. "Lizzie Bennet."

"Lizzie," he repeated a third time, "this is for you."

"I've been advised by my, as you put it, crazy younger sister that this was the best way to get my feelings out to you. I've tried before, telling you and writing you and I just don't know what more I can say. I know that when I met you at the wedding, I was unfriendly and quite rude. I apologize for anytime I have made you uncomfortable. I do not know how to act around people that I… well, that I like and feel vulnerable around."

Darcy paused, taking a deep breath before finally making eye contact with the camera as he visualized the beautiful red head that had been plaguing his dreams and his mind since the day he met her. "I know that I have been rude about your family, especially your mother and your younger sister, Lydia. Again, I apologize. I come from a different world. I'm not used to people being so… open and honest and frankly, they still aren't my favorite people, but I would love them if you accepted me into your life."

He coughed, trying to compose himself and he stood up and began to pace. He knew he was on video, but he did so much better when he could walk around and couldn't they just edit this part out. He sat back down and slid the hat off his head. "This was, again, my sister's idea," he said, shaking his head as he held up the hat. "Something about showing that I can make fun of myself. I'm actually awful at that. I don't really understand why the hat and the bow tie are funny but if it would make you happy, I'll wear it."

Darcy again paused, rubbing his hands on his thighs. "I know I've never been the friendliest and my confession of being in love with you, which still stands, came as a shock but I need to explain myself. I've never been one to be able to open myself to other's and you took me by surprise. I really tried to fight it off, as it would be better for my professional life and probably for you as you don't seem to take to me very much. But I just want you to know, that despite my icy exterior, I'm almost burning for you. God, what a cliche. Forgive me.

"I love you, Lizzie Bennet. I'm not sure how it happened or why but I can't get rid of the feeling that you are the girl for me. You are everything that I am not and that scares me but it also intrigues me. You intrigue me. I understand if you don't feel the same way but maybe we could start small. Maybe have a do over where I take you out for a date, anywhere you want doing anything you want and that includes going out with your sisters if that is what would please you. My heart has never felt so tight and yet so free at the same time. You do things to my mind, I've not been able to get you off of it since I met you.

"I confess, I drove my best friend Bing away from your sister. But I was scared for him just as I am scared for myself. I see what you Bennet sisters are capable of now, causing this lust and love. I just want you to know that I'll right those wrongs regardless if you respond to my second declaration of love. I acted not in Bing's best interest but in my wrong thoughts that you, as a family, were social climbers.

"I was," he took a deep breath and shook his head a bit as he looked down, "wrong. I was wrong. Please forgive me, please give me a chance and please don't hate me.

"For I, William Darcy, am in love with you and that love has been unwavering and solid even after your rejection and our awkward interactions. I love you, Lizzie."

He was taken out of his almost trance as he stared at the camera after saying the words again by Gigi practically barging into the room with tears in her eyes. "It was perfect, William! She'll love it!" She turned off the camera and stared at her brother. "Are you okay?"

"What? Yes, I think so. Do you really think this will work?"

"I hope so, William. You really put yourself on the line and with a few little tweaks, like that awkward pause when you proceeded to take part in a marathon walk-a-thon around the room, it will be uploaded in no time."

"Do you think she'll see it?"

"Well, duh. People will be tweeting her as soon as they see it."

* * *

An hour later, Lizzie's phone kept ringing and buzzing and as she put her book down to check it her jaw dropped. Darcy posted a video on Gigi's YouTube channel? A second later, Charlotte was calling.

"Lizzie, oh my God, did you see the video?" Charlotte sounded breathless on the other line.

Lizzie sat at her desk, pulling up the YouTube video, and pressing play to load it. "Not yet. How bad is it?"

"Bad? Lizzie, you need to watch it. Call me back as soon as you do."

"What do you mean I need to watch it? I'm sure it's just him talking about Pemberley." She heard Charlotte try to stifle a giggle on the other line. "Isn't it?"

"Pemberley? No, Lizzie. The video is about you. Just watch it and call me back. Love you."

"Love you too, Char," she said before pressing play and watching the video, the entire time her mouth was open in the form of an "o".

Dialing, not Charlotte, but Darcy, who Gigi had somehow plugged in his number to her phone without telling her, she reached his voicemail. She had to see him, Lizzie wasn't sure what she was feeling but she knew that she had to see him. Opening the door to Fitz's house, who had let her housesit while she shadowed Pemberley, she almost ran into Darcy.

"Darcy," she said, breathlessly.

"Lizzie," he looked at her like she had never been looked at before.

"Um, why don't you come in."

"Were you just leaving?

"To go see you, actually. Just… just come in."


	2. The Conversation

Lizzie ushered Darcy in to the kitchen, although she was sure he knew his way better than she did as it was Fitz's house. "Do you want something to drink? Water or anything?"

"Tea would be lovely," he stuttered through the first word. He wasn't sure what he expected to happen when he got to her house, but he was assured by her insisting that he come in to the house that she had least seen part or all of the video. He wanted to text Gigi to tell her to remove it but he had forgotten his phone at his place in the rush to get to Lizzie's.

Lizzie turned on the automatic kettle before sitting down at the breakfast nook table and motioning for him to join her. Once they were seated across from each other, neither knew where to start.

"So," they said in unison. "about the video."

An awkward laugh was exchanged as they looked away from each other, Lizzie to the kitchen and Darcy to the outside. "You first," they both said, again at the same time. Lizzie's cheeks flushed bright pink and she stood to get the kettle which started to steam.

"How do you like your tea?" she asked, at least getting some words out that weren't in unison with Darcy.

"Just black would be great," he responded, standing to go help her.

Lizzie turned back and motioned for him to sit. "I think I can manage making tea, Darcy." Her comment which would have, on an average day, been laced with attitude, today it had no pretenses. It was this that really marked the change it atmosphere between the two of them for her.

Sitting back down, she placed one of the mugs in front of herself and one she gave to Darcy. "Jane used to make me tea when she thought I was upset," she noted, not really telling him for any other reason that for something to talk about.

"Yes, I recall from your videos."

"I forget sometimes that people I know watch them."

"Yes, well they are quite illuminating." Darcy watched her, trying to get a judgement of what she was thinking but it was quite hard for him. He might not have been a robot like Lizzie liked to insist in her videos, but he was never the best at social interactions and judging other people's thoughts.

Lizzie was doing the same, as her gaze left her tea cup to his face. She was gauging what they should say next and for once, she was at a loss for words. To be completely honest, she wasn't sure what she was thinking. Instantly, she regretted opening her door as she needed more time to digest the video that she just saw. And maybe, just maybe, watch it a few times more. Just for research, you know.

"I'm sorry if the video embarrassed you, Lizzie," Darcy started, running his hands down his shirt to get ride of the wrinkles. "It wasn't my idea, I assure you, but I can just imagine that I caused you embarrassment and that was why you were coming to see me." The last part of his phrase was said more as a question than a statement and he was hoping that she was not, in fact, coming to see him out of anger.

"Embarrassed?"

"Yes. I'm very sorry to cause you any distress that my rehashing of my feelings towards you might have caused."

"Darcy, I put up how many videos where I practically mocked you over the last few months and you're asking me if I was embarrassed?" she scoffed. Lizzie couldn't help but feel touched at his sentiment. She had never thought about what her videos might do to the subjects in them. Even at this moment, she thought back with regret to the way she had handled the Lydia situation and wondered if she should catch up on her younger sister's videos even though she said she wasn't going to watch. "I wasn't embarrassed, really. I was-"

"Furious?"

"Darcy," she laughed, taking the tea cup to her mouth and sipping it before finding the right word to describe her emotion. "No, no. I was not furious or embarrassed or anything. I was touched, really."

Darcy raised his eyebrows at her, half smiling that his sister's crazy idea had at least somewhat paid off. He was still, however, unsure of what it meant. Did it mean she returned his feelings or was this her way of putting him down gently.

"But I don't know what I really feel about, well," Lizzie was flailing her arms trying to motion how she felt. "This… this whole thing."

"I understand," Darcy slowly looked down. So it was, another rejection. There was no way that this was going to end well for him, he could already tell. "So I should get going then?"

"What? No, stay. It's just, I don't know, it's not what I expected to happen today. I thought you were still in L.A. and then seeing you and then that video today, it's really messed with my head. I thought, well, I thought I knew how I felt about you." Lizzie bit her lip as she tried to express herself more clearly, but in all her attempts she realized that she couldn't. She, herself, had no idea what she was feeling right now so how could she express it to Darcy. All she knew was that her stomach was cramping up, almost as those elusive butterflies she had heard so much about were taking their turn to flutter around in her own stomach. Still, that meant nothing. It was an emotional reaction to something that needed a lot of thinking about.

Darcy nodded and fiddled with the tea bag as though to suppress the urge he had to to reach out and take her hand with his. "Should we turn on the camera?" he asked.

"The camera?" she questioned.

"I don't know. I thought it might help you with your words as you always seem so eloquent and sure of yourself when the camera is on."

Lizzie laughed and brushed her hair out of her eye. "Yeah, well, that's with the great editing from Charlotte. No, Darcy, some things are meant to be done off camera even if our relationship has practically been documented from the start."

"I think it's more of a satire than a documentary," he huffed.

"Well, it's an evolving diary. I no longer think that you go home and charge your battery pack every night. And I'll have to admit, since you have already for thousands, that my feelings about," Lizzie was practically choking on her words. "My feelings about you have changed."

"In a positive light?"

"Of course, Darcy. Although it would have been a miracle if they could have changed in a negative light." She meant it as a joke but she could see his face soured. She reached out and placed her fingers lightly on his wrist. "I'm kidding, Darcy. You've really proved that I might have judged you a little harshly in the beginning."

Darcy was squirming in his seat from her slight touch. She really did have some magically power over him. "So you're not rejecting me?"

"No."

"And you'll go on a date with me?" he asked, his voice was hopeful and slightly high.

"No."

"Perf-wait, no?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Jane."

"Jane?"

"And Bing."

"Jane and Bing?"

"Yes."

"You can't date me because of something I have already admitted to be a big mistake?"

"I can date you, I just need you to first try and fix it. Bing hasn't taken her calls and she's just not the same Jane anymore. And you now know that she had honest intentions, despite my insane mother."

"Well…"

"It's not an ultimatum, Darcy. I'm not saying if they don't end up together, I won't go on date with you. I just hope that you would take this as an opportunity to do some right and call Bing and just explain it. Maybe tell him to watch the videos?"

"Well, he might enjoy them actually. He was portrayed in a much better light than I was."

"And yet, here you sit."

Darcy smiled, a genuine smile as he looked at Lizzie from across the table. "I'll call him right no-, oh no."

"What?"

"My phone. I left it back at my place."

"That's why you didn't answer," Lizzie said out loud, blushing slightly that she admitted to having tried calling him.

"Yes. You have my number?"

"Gigi."

"Ah, of course."

"I'd tell you you can use mine, but I don't have his number. And if you call him later, that gives me a night to think about this more."

"I hope you don't change your mind," he said, getting up from the table.

"About what?"

"About me and the date."

"I'll try not to," she teased, but seeing that he once again didn't get her humor reassured him that she was joking.

Seeing him out, he opened the door and turned back to her. "I'm not promising anything, Lizzie, but I will call him and tell him to watch the videos. But can I pick you up here tomorrow at around six?"

"Yes," she smiled, brushing his shoulder with her hand.

Turning his back to her, he made the way down the steps before he heard her call out his name. "Yes?" he said, turning, and found that she was on her tip toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. He rubbed the spot on his cheek as she lowered herself down. "What was that?"

"A thank you. For the video. It was the sweetest thing anyone's done for me."

* * *

Lizzie sat in her bed that night, her phone pressed up to her ear as she talked to Charlotte and her lap top perched in her lap. "This is my favorite part," she said into the phone as she watched Darcy on the video.

"You're in love," Charlotte said on the other side.

"I don't know," Lizzie started. "But I'm pretty sure that I'm at least in like."

"I knew it. I so knew it."

"You didn't know anything," Lizzie laughed. "Let's watch it just one more time."


	3. In Which Bing Finds Out

Lizzie turned the camera off, hoping that Jane wouldn't see her last video. She hoped that her older sister was still too busy to watch or would do the opposite of what Lizzie would do when she saw the warning and actually follow it. She couldn't believe Bing was just sitting there and she couldn't believe that he was still clueless to her videos and how Jane truly loved him. She was mad all over again at Darcy (and Caroline) and hoped that Bing was here because Darcy was going to correct his thinking.

Staring off into space, she was startled when her phone started to ring.

Charlotte, of course.

"So what are you going to wear?" she heard her best friend ask before even greeting her.

"I don't know. Nothing special. I don't even know if I'm going to go."

"Lizzie! What do you mean? You sounded so sure of it last night and how many times did you watch the video?"

"I didn't count," Lizzie could feel her cheeks flushing. She had watched the videos at least 50 times, and that was a modest estimate. It was just something she had never expected to happen to her especially from Darcy. "But regardless, you didn't even ask why I wasn't sure that I was going to go anymore, Charlotte. What kind of best friend are you?"

"The best kind. Why, what happened? What did Darcy do?"

"Not Darcy."

"Lydia? Jane? Your professor that you are always going on about?"

"Dr. Gardiner."

"Yeah that one. Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to keep guessing?"

Lizzie plugged in her camera to her laptop and pressed the upload video. "I'll do one better, Charlotte. I'll show you."

"Why didn't I guess you would have gotten it on camera."

"I feel like people only walk into my office when I'm filming." Lizzie attached the file of the raw video and sent it to Charlotte's work email. "It's about five minutes in when my special guest comes for a chat. Call me back when you finish it, I have to write to Dr. Gardiner about my last few days. She wants constant updates."

After hanging up and putting her phone next to her, Lizzie did not write to her professor but instead found herself thinking about one Mr. Darcy. She knew she told him last night that it wasn't an ultimatum, but maybe she should have made it one. She wanted Jane to be happy and most of all, she wanted Jane to go back to her old self. Yes, they were growing up and changing but Jane had completely changed over when she left for L.A. and came back for the holidays. She wanted the Jane that had time to send her care packages back.

Sighing, she signed into her email and read over a few mindless ones before at least typing Dr. Gardiner's name into her To box before Charlotte called back.

"Oh my God, Lizzie. How do you have simultaneously the worst and best luck?"

"Well as you know, it's a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces."

"That's a tad dramatic."

"It's from Bridget Jones's."

"Oh. Of course. How many times have you made me watch that?"

"What am I going to do, Charlotte?"

"Nothing. He'll run into Darcy, I mean why else would he be at Pemberley, and Darcy will have a chance to set things straight for him."

"I hope so."

* * *

"Darcy, I feel like I haven't seen you in years," Bing said, sitting comfortably on his friend's couch. Darcy was in the other room collecting his lap top which Bing thought was a little rude since he had taken a flight up from L.A. for the day on Darcy's insistence on the phone last night. His friend had sounded anxious so of course Bing had bought himself a ticket and here he was.

Darcy placed the lap top in front of Bing and sat on the arm chair a little ways away. "Well, you've been so busy with vacationing and med school."

"You know I took the semester off, Darcy," Bing warned, before noticing that the lap top was in front of him and not Darcy. "What's this for anyways?"

Darcy cleared his throat before settling in to the chair. "We'll get to the lap top in a minute, Bing. But about the semester off, are you going back this semester?"

"Of course, I just needed to clear my head. My judgement, as you and Caroline pointed out, was foggy during the summer and I just needed to get myself together. The whole Jane thing really messed me up. I was so sure that she was genuine and wanted to be with me because she liked me. But you know, I trust you and Caroline's judgement and it was two against one."

Darcy winced. He didn't want to admit he was wrong, and he definitely didn't want to say it in those words. "About that Jane thing, Bing," he started before Bing cut him off to continue his statements.

"Maybe she should have gone into acting instead of fashion. I really believed her when we were together. Caroline insisted that her mother was behind her sudden interest in me and her mother was kind of odd."

"About that-"

"I'm just glad it's all sorted out, you know. I have a hard time ignoring her though. She used to call me when she moved to Los Angeles and I've almost run into her a few times but it's too hard for me to see her. If I see her, I feel like I would just go under her spell again. Oh, speaking of Jane, did I tell you I ran into Lizzie today?"

"Lizzie?"

"Yeah, she was making her video letter to Charlotte. Hopefully she took out all my parts besides the parts where I said hello."

"About those videos, Bing," Darcy tried again but was interrupted by another voice, a more girly voice.

"They're not videos to Charlotte, Bing," Gigi walked into the room. Bing stood and embraced her, she was like a younger sister to him. She settled down next to him on the couch and glared at her brother. She knew all about Lizzie telling him to set the record straight and wondered if it was cheating for her to do it instead. Darcy hated awkward encounters though, as evident by his lack of camera presence whenever he was on Lizzie's videos. "She vlogs."

"Blogs?" Bing asked, his eyebrows raised.

"No, vlogs. Video blogs about her life and about, well everything."

"Everything?" he wasn't understanding. He didn't get what all of it meant and how Darcy and Gigi knew about them instead of him. "What kind of everything?"

"Like everything," she patted him on his shoulder. "You'll see it if my brother ever turns on his computer," Gigi shot a glance at Darcy who stood to his feet and pressed the power button on his lap top and typed in the password.

"I don't understand."

"She started awhile ago, but they mention everything that's gone on in her life since then. Darcy, Caroline, Lydia, Charlotte, Fitz, some asshole who I won't mention and you can feel free to skip those as I did, but more importantly-"

"You and Jane," Darcy cut in. He could let his sister do most of the talking but at least he would be able to tell Lizzie that when it came down to it, he told Bing about the parts in her videos about him. He sat back down, content to be silent about it from now on.

"You should just watch them. At least all the ones where one of the people in the videos have a doctor's thing on their head. Actually, I advise you to watch the ones where they are wearing a bow tie and a newsboy cap. It's hilarious how Lizzie portrays William."

"Gigi."

"Maybe just watch the ones about you just to be safe. Wouldn't want William to get all upset before his big date tonight."

"Gigi."

"You didn't tell him?"

"I'll tell him after he watches them, if he is still talking to me."

Bing wasn't paying attention to their banter as he browsed through the clips on the side of the YouTube channel looking for ones that looked like a representation of himself. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries? How did he stay in the dark about this for so long.

* * *

Lizzie was putting the final touches on her outfit. She wasn't one to fuss, but she felt like this night held a little more gravity than nights in the past. It was hours before their date was supposed to begin and she was busy answer tweets about today's video and convienetly not mentioning to her viewers and followers what she was doing at the moment. She would, of course, vlog about it later (she felt she would be cheating her viewers if she didn't) but she wanted these few moments to herself.

Her phone rang and while she expected Charlotte's name to be flashing on the caller ID, she was pleasantly surprised when it was Darcy's name instead. "Hello," she answered, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Lizzie, I have bad news."

It wasn't Darcy's voice but Gigi's. This couldn't be good.

"Did something happen? Is everyone alright?"

"Kind of. But nothing too serious, no one is physically injured or sick or anything. It's just a bit of a situation and William can't make it."

"So he's having his sister call for him? That's just great."

"Lizzie, I promise he really wanted to make it and he would call himself… he just can't."

"Okay, that sounds completely plausible. Darcy can't make it because, well, he just can't. Sounds a lot like he's backing out and blowing me off. Not that I care or anything," she said into the phone as she slumped into her bed.

"No, no, Lizzie. It's nothing like that, I swear!"

Lizzie sighed into the phone, "Then what is it, Gigi?"

"Bing saw the videos."

"Oh? Ohhhh."

"Yeah. So there's a bit of a friendship crisis happening and an identity crisis and a lot of shouting."

"I understand?"

"Do you? Great! I promise he'll reschedule. I just, I just don't think it would be smart on anyone's part to go out tonight."

Lizzie let out a breath and walked to her vanity to take off her make up. "Yeah, thanks for calling."

"Are you mad?"

"Not really," she said. Disappointed would have been the right word but she didn't want to tell Gigi that. In the background she could hear a voice shouting. It was Bing's.

"How long did you know, Darcy?"

"I'm so glad you're not mad. I got to go and try to mediate some peace but I don't think I'm exactly on Bing's good side either. I just don't want anyone to call the cops and think their is some sort of physical altercation."

Gigi heard the sound of a crash. "Shoot. Looks like it might have gotten physical. I'll have Darcy call you tomorrow! Sorry again, Lizzie."

* * *

"Are you busy?" Lizzie was tucked into her bed with Bridget Jone's playing in the background. Maybe she had used that quote and cursed herself.

Jane sat on her couch in L.A., sipping a cup of tea while going over sketches for her employer. "Not too busy for my younger sister. What's up?"

"I'm just having a rough day and wish you were here."


	4. In Which Darcy and Bing Fight & Make Up

Lizzie turned on her camera and positioned herself in front of it. She had a minute or so before Gigi came to join her for it and she wanted to get out some stuff before Gigi came.

"So usually I have an intro to these where I say a few things but all I can say is my name is Lizzie Bennet and I almost went on a date with William Darcy," she shrugged her shoulders before sighing. "I know what most of you are doing right now, angrily tweeting about how I didn't tell you this before. Surprise! Some things are actually done off camera and I also didn't want to get you guys too excited. I know about how some of you "ship" us," she said pointing at the camera and then making air quotes around the word ship.

Lizzie bit her lip. She was usually confident in front of the camera, able to speak her mind freely to the thousands who were watching, but this subject made her nervous. Thankfully she had put on more make up than usual so her blushing wouldn't come across. "Most of you, if not all of you, have seen Darcy's video that he posted the other night. What you didn't see is what happened after-"

She got cut off by Gigi opening the door and slipping in to the room, "Oh, Lizzie, you're filming already. I thought we were going to do a thing."

"Oh, just the intro. Nothing important. But we are going to do a dramatic reenactment of what happened last night. Do you have the script?"

"Better than that, I also brought some props and a special guest."

"Your brother?" Lizzie's voice raised slightly and she coughed to try to hide her excitement.

Gigi shook her head. "Fitz, actually. The whole reenactment takes three and I thought he would be perfect for the role of Darcy, since he has experience playing him and everything."

Fitz entered the room and sat down next to Lizzie so she was in the middle of the two. "Hey Lizzie."

"I thought I was house sitting for you? Where are you staying?"

"We can discuss that later, but for now, let's act," Fitz smiled into the camera before putting the hat on his head and smirking at Gigi, who had put on a stethoscope and handed out the scripts.

"You're playing me, Lizzie."

* * *

Bing clicked through the videos, scrolling over the time to see if either Jane or a reenactment of himself was on screen. He had a lot of feelings over this sudden revelation that there was video proof that Jane's feelings for him had been genuine. And above that, that his sister had known about the videos since before they had the Bennet's stay at Netherfield. And Darcy knew. He felt completely duped. The wool had been pulled over his head and he had never thought to pull it back and ask Jane himself what her feelings were for him.

Gigi and Darcy seemed to be staring at him awaiting his reaction which just made him more angry. They all knew, all of them, and they hadn't said a word to him. Now, Bing Lee was, in general, a very calm and giving person but this wasn't something that one faced in ordinary life. He had very well been in love with Jane and trusted two people he thought would never lead him astray. Darcy, he almost understood his motives. Well, maybe not his motives but the fact that he did truly think Jane wasn't good for him as the videos hadn't been something he had watched until later. But still. He hadn't told him. And Caroline... well, he was ready to stop talking to his sister forever but by forever he meant a few days because that's all it took to break him down.

Bing slammed the lap top close and stood up. "I need some air," he said to neither of his friends in particular. Darcy stood as well and Bing motioned for him to stay seated but Darcy didn't take that advice.

"Bing," he started, but Bing didn't let him get very far.

Bing shook his head and kept making his way to the door, but he thought better of it. He wasn't going to be like the others and keep important things to himself, he was going to tell them what he thought. "How dare you, Darcy. How dare you keep that from me after you found out? You know how torn up I had been about it. I left her one night and didn't come back and didn't call her all from the advice from my so-called best friend."

"I am your best friend," Darcy said, his tone was filled with sadness as he held his best friend in such high regard and that's why he had done it. "I didn't mean to harm you, Bing."

"You embarrassed me. I'm the laughing stock of everyone, I'm sure. The guy who is so out of tune with social media that he was able to be fooled into thinking a great girl was evil and manipulative. And then you had a chance to right your wrong. I took time off of school, Darcy."

"It was never the right time."

"When is the right time? Now? How is this the right time? After I ruined everything!" He threw his hands up in the air as Gigi sat with her mouth wide open.

* * *

Breaking character, Gigi intervened in their retelling. "That's when William told him about you."

Lizzie shot her a glare from the side of her eye. She would just have Charlotte edit that part out, she didn't want everything to be put out there. "Just continue, I'm waiting for my first line."

* * *

"Bing," Gigi said, standing from the couch. "He was just trying to be a friend."

"A friend is someone who would admit when they're wrong and he apparently didn't want to do that and cost me someone I really liked," he said, pointing his finger at Darcy.

Darcy's hands went up like he had been just caught by the cops. "I know I did wrong, Bing."

"Why are you telling me now?"

Darcy looked like he was going to make up something before he finally admitted, "Lizzie."

"Bennet? Lizzie Bennet made you suddenly change your mind?"

"I asked her on a date."

Bing had skipped the moments between Darcy and Lizzie and Darcy had never mentioned his feelings before because he hadn't wanted to admit he had been rejected. "Since when?"

"The other day, Bing. I... I confessed my feelings-"

"What feelings?"

"Maybe you should watch the other videos before you get mad," Gigi chimed in, trying to calm down the situation.

* * *

"I got them to stop shouting for a few moments which is when I went and called you. Bing went on to watch the videos about William, he got a real kick out of the one where William got rejected by you but I think it was just because he was so angry."

Lizzie looked sheepish, this was all her fault. If she hadn't made Darcy tell Bing about the videos, they wouldn't have had the fight. But then again, if Darcy had never made it a secret of if Caroline had told him, this would have never happened. Darcy did break Jane and Bing up after all. "Are you sure this is right? It sounds a bit dramatic."

"Dramatic? If anything, I toned it down! I had to shorten it a bit, you know."

* * *

"How long did you know?" Bing shouted at Darcy, by now he was in his friend's personal space. He couldn't help it, he was heated.

"Know what?"

"That you loved her! That she was fine for you and your fortune but Jane was out to use me for mine!" And in the moment, that step, Bing slipped on the area rug and came crashing down. A moment later, Gigi stepped out of the room looking shocked.

"Did you punch him, William?"

"No, he fell," Darcy looked unmoved but eventually extended his hand to Bing. "Look, can we just sit down and talk about this like gentleman?"

* * *

"The crash was just him falling?" Lizzie asked.

"I still think William pushed him," Gigi said, shrugging. "He doesn't like when people raise their voices and get in his personal space. But they both insisted he fell on his own."

* * *

Bing raised his hands in retreat and sat down on the far side of the couch, as far from Darcy as he possibly could sit. "I just don't know what you want me to say."

"Nothing. I think there is something I need to say however," Darcy said as Gigi placed herself on the table, in the middle of them just in case she needed to break something up. "I am sorry and I was wrong."

"That's a first."

"Bing," Gigi interupetted, glaring at him. She didn't want anything to ruin the peace treaty that seemed to be coming.

"No, he's right. I should have told him this a long time ago and my foolish pride really screwed it up. I've pretty much known I've had feelings for Lizzie since I met her but I really did try to stop them. And I think of the reasons I wanted to get you away from Jane, besides my earnest belief that she was wrong for you, was that it meant I would be away from Lizzie. I never thought she was right for me."

"But?"

"But... I guess sometimes there are things you can't control and one of those, for me, is my feelings for Lizzie." Darcy looked away, not able to keep eye contact with Bing when he was feeling like a puppy dog being shamed for chewing on a slipper.

"So why didn't you tell me?"

"Lizzie kept my secrets."

"But these weren't secrets! Everyone else watched them. You, Caroline, Gigi."

"I didn't want you to be mad at me," he said. "I was wrong and I guess to protect myself and I guess, protect you, I thought it was best that you didn't find out. And you never tried to get back with her! I thought I had done right by you."

"Because I didn't want you or Caroline to think I was a fool but now I am the fool."

"No you're not, Bing," Gigi said, her voice calm. "i personally think that if you were to write Jane or call her, you guys could sort it out. You both seem to have big hearts."

"I just... I don't know what to think."

"Just know that his heart was in the right place," she suggested before sitting down and wrapping her arms around him. "I know it sucks, but at least the portrayal of you was mostly positive! Look at what they said about William. And the way they made him act."

"It was pretty funny."

"Excuse me?" Darcy said, glaring at them both.

"She called you a robot. What part of that isn't funny?"

* * *

"And that's really all that happened?" Lizzie asked, as Gigi took off her stethoscope and Fitz slid off his had.

"Well, no... but I think the rest of it I'll have to tell you off camera. It didn't end all nicely like that but I wanted your viewers to have a happy ending."

Lizzie turned to the camera and smiled. "And so you have it, the reason I didn't have my date with Darcy. And now I have to talk to Gigi about what really happened."

Lizzie leaned over to turn the camera off. "Now spill on what really happened at the end.

"Well all that I just said was true until right after the push…" she started.


	5. In Which Gigi Tells the Truth

Lizzie knocked on the door of Darcy's residence, tapping her fingers against her thigh as she waited. Why had she come empty handed? If she had flowers or something, she would have at least had something to distract her with. The door opened slowly and she saw Darcy with an ice bag pressed up to his eye but at least he looked happy to see her.

"Lizzie, what a surprise."

Lizzie managed a half smile and shrug, "Gigi told me what happened, I feel horrible."

"It wasn't your fault, Lizzie," he said while opening the door wider for her to enter. She hesitantly stepped inside and glanced around. It was just what she expected, neat and orderly and yet comforting and homey. At least, homey for Darcy.

"If I hadn't made you tell him about the videos and Jane this would have never happened and your eye wouldn't be all... well, let me see it."

Darcy slowly lifted the ice bag off of his swollen eye. It had been about 24 hours and while the doctor told him that his eye socket was definitely not broken, it was still swollen and all kinds of black and blue. "It's not that bad. A little ice and it will be fine. Nothing broken, just swollen."

"Oh my god, Darcy," Lizzie said, her voice in a low whisper as she covered her mouth. "That's not nothing, that's awful."

Darcy shrugged, leading her to the living room. "Just a misunderstanding between friends."

* * *

An hour earlier, after the camera had stopped rolling, Gigi told the rest of the story to Lizzie and to Fitz, who before then had believed the scripted version of events. It wasn't too far off that Bing would have forgiven Darcy so easily.

"So as I said, it was all true except that when I came out of my room... well all hell broke loose. Bing really did fall and William swears that he didn't touch him besides to try to stop the fall, but Bing didn't give him a chance to explain. I don't know if you noticed yesterday but Bing has gotten more muscular since the last time you saw him, maybe it was what he did instead of med school this semester."

"He wasn't in med school this semester?" Lizzie was confused. She had thought that when Bing left Netherfields, he had left to continue his studies. Another twist in the story.

Gigi looked like she had just spilt the secret of everlasting life. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. He needed time to clear his head, or that's at least what he said. I think he was heartbroken."

"Over Jane?"

"Well, duh. Who else?' Gigi rolled her eyes playfully before taking a more serious tone to continue her storytelling. "So as I was saying, Bing thought that William pushed him. Maybe he was just looking for an excuse though because he was steaming. Like a cartoon character, you know, with steam coming out of their ears and everything. His face was so red, like even redder than it gets after he's had alcohol in his system. But he was so mad and he gets up from the floor just as I got off the phone with you and as I open my door, I heard his fist connect with William's face."

Fitz and Lizzie both gasped. "He punched Darcy?" Fitz asked. He knew both of them well and had never known Bing to be violent. "What did your brother do?"

"Nothing. Bing actually got a few good shots in before I managed to pull him off. I mean, after his first punch, the others were more soft. I don't think he was meaning to hurt him because William is only bruised in the eye. I think it was like he was punching a pillow, not meaning to do damage but needed a way to get his aggression out. Well to be fair, he had a second to catch his breath before hitting William a few times because William had stumbled against the wall after he got a fist to his eye."

"Is he okay?" Lizzie asked. She didn't think of Darcy as some tough guy that could handle a punch that well and well, she was no nurse to go over and get him back to health. Her mind drifted slightly to a nurse's outfit and Darcy- she stopped herself. This was getting out of hand, this was Darcy she was talking about.

Gigi shrugged, looking more serious than before. "Yeah, but it looks awful. It's still swollen. Our doctor said he'll be fine in a couple of days but to keep ice over it and probably not leave our house. I think that is more so he doesn't scare people."

"Where's Bing?" Fitz asked, resting his hand on Lizzie's shoulder as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"I have no idea. After he punched William a few times, he left. William should have just let him leave in the first place but I guess hindsight is 20/20. But William is more like a 10/10 right now," she said with a snort.

"Gigi." The other two said simultaneously.

She shrugged, "Sorry for trying to make light of it. Well, I mean... I kind of know where Bing is. I think he went back to L.A. Caroline tweeted yesterday something about her brother being 50 shades of red. I don't think he's talking to her though. He was pissed at everyone."

"This is my fault," Lizzie said, quietly but Gigi picked it up.

"No it's not. My brother should have been a better friend and told about it earlier and Caroline should have been a better sister and a. shouldn't have hid it from Bing and b. shouldn't have put a wedge in between you and William."

Lizzie didn't want to think about Caroline. Looking back now, she could see the deception in Caroline in the way she manipulated Lizzie in her quest to 'protect' Darcy and Bing.

"Where's your brother?" Lizzie asked, drumming her fingers on her thigh and leaning into Fitz for some sort of comfort.

Gigi smiled at Fitz. This might not have been the original plan but it was still drumming up sympathy for Darcy and bringing the two closer together. "At our house. You can go over if you want, I'll just hang out with Fitz."

"You can come," Lizzie assured her, feeling uncomfortable already at being alone with an injured Darcy. She could barely handle an fully-abled Darcy.

"Oh no, that's quite alright."

Lizzie sighed. "Fine, I'll go over, but only to apologize."

* * *

Lizzie settled herself down on the couch and Darcy sat down a cushion away from her. "So, does it hurt?"

"Oh no, it feels quite pleasant."

"I'm serious, Darcy."

"I am, too. It miraculously started to feel better in these last five minutes."

Lizzie blushed a deep red and looked away from him, "Whatever."

"Thanks for coming, Lizzie. You didn't have to. I feel like a beast right now with this massive lump on my head that looks like the color of... death, really."

Lizzie laughed slightly, "It's not that bad."

"No?"

"Well as long as I look at you from this angle, you still look like the handsome man I'm used to."

"Handsome?"

"Yeah, well," she was stumbling over her words as she tried to pick up from her slip of the tongue. Her calm, cool and collected demeanor was slipping from her fingertips. "I'm just saying you're not half bad looking."

"And neither are you, Miss. Bennet."

FitzontheFitz  
ggdarcy stake out time!

GGDarcy  
FitzontheFitz i got the binoculars. to the tree house?

FitzontheFitz  
ggdarcy i'm already there. i got snacks


	6. In Which Lizzie and Darcy Converse

"So are there really reasons why Lizzie Bennet is perpetually single?" Darcy asked, bumping his shoulder against Lizzie's. "Because the only one I can think of is that you are extremely picky."

"Hey!" she protested. In the last few minutes they had managed to close the cushion gap between them on the couch through neither of them could consciously recall moving, but there they were, in the middle of the couch. "I don't think I'm picky. Well, that's not the word I would have used. I would use particular or looking for someone who doesn't suck."

"Well, you're doing a terrible job of that. I heard your last boyfri-" before he could get the word out, she was interrupting him.

"I wouldn't call George Wickham a boyfriend. But yes, he did suck and I let my judgement slip due to these fantastic things called abs."

Darcy laughed, turning his head towards her. "I don't think I needed to hear that. But I do agree, your judgement did slip."

Lizzie squinted at him as she tried to keep a serious face on. "Well, what about you? Where is your perfect girlfriend?"

Darcy looked away, rubbing his hands on his thighs as he did when he got a little bit nervous and pushing his chin inwards. "Well, I did have my eye on someone."

"Before me, Darcy," she rolled her eyes. "Your dating history, why aren't you married off? My mom tells me that every single man with a fortune is in want of a wife."

"Well no offense, Lizzie, but your mother is a little crazy. I think she's the only one in your videos that you get spot on."

"Hey! I'm the only one who can make fun of my mother," she argued.

"I'm sorry. But my last girlfriend? I don't know. I work a lot. I don't really have time to be pursuing random females, especially ones who don't hold my interest very long. I would have continued on that path for a long time, I'm sure, had fate not intervened."

Lizzie blushed slightly as she looked straight ahead. "So you believe in fate?"

"I believe that in somethings, fate does exist. Things such as love."

Now she was a deep scarlet. She couldn't put a finger on it but he made her so nervous when he talked about love and relationships so easily like this. Maybe because she was more than a little intrigued about the possibilities but at the same time, had a tough time shaking her previous judgements about him.

"I'm more of a free will person myself," she told him.

"I don't think either of our philosophies have done us well so far in life then, at least on this subject."

Lizzie slowly nodded before turning her head slightly to him. "I don't understand."

"Don't understand what? How it hasn't worked out? Well, we are both currently unattached-"

She cut him off. "No, no, Darcy. Why you..."

"Why I..." he repeated after her. He wasn't a mind reader, but he had a feeling he knew what was coming and braced himself to answer a question that he really didn't know the answer to.

"Why you like me? I was really not very nice to you. I mean, at all."

Darcy shrugged. "The heart's a funny thing. But I think you have to also remember that you were mostly at least surface level nice to my face. It was on the videos that your true thoughts came out."

Those damn videos. They were always going to haunt her. "Again, I'm sorry-"

Darcy took the opportunity this time to cut her off. "Don't be sorry. I learned a lot about myself through those. At least on how other people who don't really know me see me. But I don't know, Lizzie. You're just different."

"Is that a good thing?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as she turned her body to him as he spoke.

Darcy slowly nodded. "Of course. You intrigue me and you were definitely work for me to try and talk to. I was almost scared of you. You're so confident and you know what you want."

"You run your own company. How can you say you don't know what you want?" she asked.

Darcy sighed, "It's different. The company fell into my lap. I didn't have to do anything for it nor did I ever really decide that I wanted it. It was wanted for me and therefore I wanted it. You... you have your own mind and it's a beautiful thing. It makes you stand out from everyone else. And don't take this the wrong way, Lizzie-"

"I would never," she said, placing her hand over her heart and feigning offense.

He smiled as he pressed his shoulder against hers. "I've met a lot of beautiful women in my travels. I've met actual supermodels and you're not the most conventionally beautiful person I've seen."

Lizzie frowned a bit, "I can see where the warning came into play."

"There was a but," he assured her. "But, to me, you are the most attractive woman I've ever met. It's a mixture of everything. Your looks don't hurt, of course, but I think its your entire persona and confidence and how intelligent you really are. I've never been able to shake you off from the moment I met you. I knew you were someone who was going to have a big impact on my life and I wasn't wrong."

Lizzie couldn't keep eye contact and she looked at her shoes sitting across the room next to his.

* * *

"Give them back, Fitz," Gigi whined a bit as she took a bite into a twizzler. "I want to see. I give them another ten minutes before they finally kiss. It feels like it's been forever!"

Fitz reluctantly handed over the glassed as he rolled onto his back and sat up. "It's like watching a very, very slow romance movie. I see the tension and the build up and it better have some pay out. This tree house isn't exactly the most comfortable space in the world."

Gigi giggled as she watched Lizzie get up and walk out of the living room. "Ugh, I think William offended her, she's leaving."

She handed the binoculars over to Fitz who pressed them against his eyes and tried to focus on the room. "She can't be leaving, she forgot her shoes."

Grabbing for the binoculars, Gigi tried to argue that it was still her turn and she had just let him borrow them. He finally gave them back to her and she looked into the lenses. "Oh shit, Fitz. It's Bing."

"I thought he was in L.A."

* * *

"I thought you were in L.A," Lizzie had said, when she had opened the door. Two seconds ago, she and Darcy had been leaning into each other and she was almost positive they had been about to kiss. This thought had been confirmed by his comment when the doorbell ring and they had separated.

* * *

"Of course there would be company," he had said. "But maybe for the better. Wouldn't want to have our first kiss when I could only see you with one eye."

She had laughed off the comment but she held some silent resentment over the fact that she had opened the door to Bing's face.

* * *

"Lizzie," he said.

"Bing," she answered and then repeated her opening sentence.

"No, I had some stuff to do before getting back."

"Oh? Like what?" she asked, leaning on the door frame.

Bing shrugged. He was more than embarrassed over the way he had acted the previous day and had a lot of repenting to do. He had been overcome with emotion over the fact that he had dumped the perfect girl for him over assurances from his sister and Darcy that she was wrong for him. But he recognized that he had transferred those emotions into pure rage which resulted in a very embarrassing incident for him. "Apologizing. Can I come in?"

Lizzie looked surprised he was asking her that and then realized that she had been standing in the doorway. "Oh, sorry, of course. He's in the living room. I'll just get my shoes and go."

"Actually," Bing said, an idea coming to him. "I have a favor to ask you so will you stay?"

"A favor?"

"Involving your videos. Also, remind me to thank Gigi for protecting my reputation on them."

"I guess," she said, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to think of what Bing could possibly ask of her that involved her videos and followed him into the living room. "You have a guest," she announced to Darcy, who had remained on the couch.

Bing joked, "And a very efficient bouncer."

* * *

fitzonthefitz  
ggdarcy uh oh. troubles brewing. next time we should invest in bugging your living room

ggdarcy  
fitzonthefitz i'm sitting right next to you

fitzonthefitz  
ggdarcy yeah but we have to keep our followers well informed.

ggdarcy  
fitzonthefitz well then… next time we also have to invest in more snacks as i just ate your last twizzler

fitzonthefitz  
ggdarcy … we're no longer talking.


	7. In Which Bing Has an Idea

FitzontheFitz  
ggdarcy remember when we thought it was a good idea to move from the tree house to bushes?

ggdarcy  
fitzonthefitz uh yes. i'm still picking twigs out of my hair

FitzontheFitz  
ggdarcy ... same.

* * *

A day after she had visited Darcy, Lizzie was back in the offices of Pemberley Digital staring at the camera. She no longer knew what to expect from these videos, as they rarely contained just her anymore but at least this time she knew who her special guests were going to be. It was her second video of the day, the first one had been of her and Gigi and this one was going to have another guest. Her videos were beginning to feel like a talk show.

"So a lot has happened these last few days. Darcy has a black eye, Fitz and Gigi have become master spies and I... well, my name is Lizzie Bennet and my views and opinions have change on a lot of things." Lizzie played with the sleeves as her blue cardigan that was over her sundress, "And the first one is obviously on Darcy. I've had a true change of... heart, when it comes to him. I will be the first to admit I judged him wrong but he's really surprised me in other ways as well."

Her face fell as she realized that the statement she just uttered could have other meanings in her viewers head and she started to shake her head. "Don't think that way," she said, pointing to the camera, "I just meant that we have a lot to talk about and in common. And that's all we've done, for you curious minds who won't stop tweeting me since his video. I promise," she put her hand over her heart before the door opened behind her.

"Oh, Bing," she greeted him, standing.

Bing smiled at her before looking at the camera and in an unrehearsed move, he waved. "Hey Lizzie and hey Charlotte," he said, smiling as he sat down. "You really make a lot of these video letters for her."

Lizzie looked confused. Why was he pretending he didn't know what her videos for?

"I'm joking," he insisted, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, right, of course. I was just, uh, playing along."

He laughed before turning to face the camera again. "I already forget what I was supposed to say."

Lizzie shrugged, "Happens to me most of the time. Usually I just wing it." Turning her head, she addressed her audience again. "This is not going to be the same type of video that Darcy made for-" she coughed. She was still having difficulities talking about it without turning a deep red.

"Made for her," Bing saved her by finishing her sentence and gently nudging her with his arm. "Instead this is going to be me, Bing Lee, asking you... all of Lizzie's followers, for help. Lizzie was kind enough to let me borrow all of your eyes and ears."

* * *

"And a very efficient bouncer," Bing said, entering Darcy's living room. He looked behind him to Lizzie who had decided to sit on the arm chair instead of back on the couch and he took her seat on the couch albeit much further away than she had been from Darcy.

Darcy had somewhat chucked at his comment about the bouncer as he glanced at Lizzie who wouldn't make eye contact with his one good eye. Darcy then looked to his best friend, who he assumed was not here to punch him in his good eye. "Bing, it's good to see you," he said, his voice kind of rough as if he was deciding if the statement was honest or not.

His friend looked at his feet as he tried to gather the words he needed to express his apology.

"I'm sorry," Darcy had gotten to the words first and as Lizzie watched silently from across the room, she was almost glowing that Darcy had apologized first. She was going to have to add this incident to her growing list of things that Darcy had done that a. surprised her and b. impressed her.

"What are you sorry for?" Bing asked, confused as he made eye contact with Darcy. "I'm the one who was completely out of line. I acted much more out of hurt than anger though."

"I know, Bing," Darcy assured him. "I probably would have done the same thing if the reverse had happened. If I had been the one seeing," he cleared his throat, "well you know."

Bing smirked a bit. "If you were seeing who?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He was just teasing his friend seeing that Lizzie was in the room with them but he couldn't help but noticed the smile on both of their faces.

"Anyways, as I was saying," Darcy said sternly, trying to save face in front of Lizzie. "I accept your apology."

Bing cocked his head to the side, "I haven't said one yet."

"Ah, well, I accept your future apology and so does my eye."

Before BIng could actually say the words, there was a crash outside the window. "What was that?" Lizzie asked, pushing herself off of the chair and walking to the window tentatively.

"I have no idea," Darcy said.

"I kind of do," Bing admitted. "If either of you would ever check twitter-"

Lizzie interrupted with a low, "You're one to talk." Bing looked embarrassed and she immediately wished she had said nothing. "Too soon to joke about your inability to use the internet?" she tried to make light of the faux pas.

"Yes," was the response from both Bing and Darcy.

"As I was saying," Bing continued, trying to recover. "If you checked twitter, you would have seen that you have two special guests in your backyard, tweeting away about every single one of your interactions."

"Gigi," they said together. Lizzie and Darcy both looked at each other in alarm. Although they had been very PG in their dealings, they could just imagine what twitter was hearing about their activity.

Once they reached the window, Darcy pulled it up and stuck his head out. "What are you two doing?"

"Oh, hey William," Gigi tried to say as though lying in the debris of what used to be a bush was completely normal for her and Fitz to be doing. "We were just, uh..."

"Admiring the shrubbery. This one was particularly lovely," Fitz cut in.

"Until Fitz and I accidently got too close to it. We wanted to, you know, rub elbows with the plant life. We're sure friendly with it now!"

"We just wanted to make sure you and Bing weren't going to kill each other," Fitz finally admitted from his place on his back, in the dirt and leaves.

"Yeah and we couldn't hear what was happening from the tree house."

Darcy sighed as he closed the window, not dignifying their actions with a response but as he turned around he could see Bing and Lizzie in a fit of giggles at the entire exchange. Darcy started to laugh himself at the whole thing. His life had gotten 10x crazier since Lizzie came into it, that he was sure of.

The three of themselves sat back on the couch, Lizzie had once again positioned herself next to Darcy, who had not so subtly put his hand on the back of the couch. The classic move that teenage boys do at the movie theater kind of thing.

Gigi and Fitz walked in through the front door, picking twigs out of their clothing. "Oh look at you two," Gigi said, not subtly at all.

Before Lizzie or Darcy could protest, Bing turned to Lizzie. "Have you been watching Lydia's videos?" he asked, as if suddenly reminded of them because of Gigi's presence.

Lizzie looked taken aback, "Uh, no. I told her I wouldn't so I haven't been."

Bing coughed lightly, trying to figure out what he should do next. He had been left in the dark and look how that turned out. "Well, in my thorough research I did to watch all of your videos, I also watched hers and... she's with George Wickham in the most recent ones.

Lizzie, Darcy and Gigi all had the same reaction, "What?!"

* * *

"So Bing needs help getting my lovely older sister back because he was an idiot and listened to some questionable opinions when all he had to do was listen to mine," she said, elbowing him.

Bing nodded without getting embarrassed. It had been two days and he was no longer too embarrassed that he couldn't take a joke about it. "What Lizzie is trying to say is that I trusted my friend and sister who led me a long way off the path."

"Through some questionable woods."

"But I've finally righted my journey but I don't think I can do it without the help of others. I was hoping that through the use of social media, I could get Jane's attention."

"I told him he could just call her," Lizzie said, glaring at him. "But he insists that it needs to be a grand affair."

Bing smiled, "And I can't be shown up by William Darcy's own profession of love on camera... twice. Look, she's blushing," he said as he lightly poked Lizzie's arm.

"Stop it," Lizzie swatted his hand away before turning back to the camera, "So what we are hoping for you all to do is make videos of why Jane should forgive Bing and then Charlotte, my dear friend Charlotte, is going to edit them into a master video which we will put online."

"And then you can tweet that link to Jane," Bing said, he had been quite proud of this idea when he came up with it. "And hopefully she'll keep that in mind when I plead my own case to her." His face lacked the previous levity of before as he was reminded of his past as a complete idiot. "A social media flash mob."

Lizzie placed her hand on his shoulder and assured him, "I'm sure she'll love it. So if you could make those videos and send them to Charlotte in a few hours... well hopefully put a long one up tonight. Nothing too long, just a sentence or two. You can even tweet at Charlotte and she can put them in."

Another knock came on the door, and Darcy turned the handle and walked in. "Are you ready, Lizzie?"

Lizzie stood up, placing her hands on Bing's shoulders and gently squeezing them, "I think so."

"Our first date isn't exactly what I imagined it would be."

She raised her eyebrows, "Oh?"

"I called my pilot. We're going to fly you home so you can see Lydia."

Lizzie didn't know how to react, but at least it wouldn't be on camera as Bing had mercifully leaned over and shut the camera off.


	8. In Which Lizzie and Darcy Fly

Lizzie stared at Darcy with her jaw ajar. "Darcy, you don't-"

He raised his hand. "Look, I know what it feels like when George Wickham finds a way into your younger sister's life. I know you didn't say anything yesterday or to me, but it's the least I can do for you."

She wanted to cry, and she was, at least, tearing up. "This is the second nicest thing anyone's done for me. The first being your video."

"Lizzie," Darcy said but decided words couldn't express what he wanted to say and instead stepped forward and embraced her. He made eye contact with Bing who had quietly gathered his stuffed and mouthed to Darcy a quick goodbye.

Lizzie was silently sobbing into Darcy's nice button down, and feeling guilty with every single tear she shed, both for Darcy's shirt and for her relationship with her younger sister. She stepped away, "Look, about Gigi's video earlier."

Darcy shrugged, "I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you think." He reached out to brush a tear from her eye. It was strange how they had gone to completely stiff in each other's presence to a good amount of comfort level. "It was her story to tell and she told it."

"I just wanted to let you know, I didn't ask her to do it."

"Lizzie, I know my sister. That was all her and it's partially why I want you to go talk to your sister. It's like Gigi said, sometimes ignorance is worse than telling them the truth and Lydia should at least be aware of what happened between them. George has a way of manipulating words and things that he can probably squirm out of it, but at least you would try in a more... subtle way than me writing him a check."

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his torso again, pressing her cheek against his chest. "Thank you."

* * *

Lizzie stepped in to the private jet behind Darcy and was surprised to find that while it was a gorgeous interior, she actually felt a little claustrophobic. That could also because she had never been a huge fan of flying. There were eight chairs, four on facing the rear and four facing the cockpit and a small aisle between them. Darcy was standing in the aisle, motioning for Lizzie to choose any seat.

She picked an aisle seat, the closer to the bathroom in case she got motion sick the better, and one facing the cabin. Darcy chose to sit in the one next to hers and she felt his shoulder against his as she looked around the cabin. "This is beautiful, Darcy, but I have to admit that I'm kind of... uh scared of flying. Not the entire thing. Just the take off and the landing and the... well, the time in the air."

"So which part are you not afraid of, again?" he teased. "It's okay, you can squeeze my hand if you get really scared."

Lizzie laughed, feeling a little bit more at ease.

-

She had been meaning to mention the tiny fact of being afraid of flying in the car as they drove to the airport but she had had so many thoughts racing through her head that it literally slipped her mind. Darcy had respected the silence that she was giving off, never once trying to break it as though he could tell she was in deep concentration but even with all that time she wasn't sure what she was going to say to Lydia.

She also felt like an idiot for not watching the videos before. When she had watched them the first time in the room with her friends, she had been angry. How could Lydia do that to her over a stupid book and how could she run to George. The second time she had watched them, on her phone as Fitz drove her back to his place, she had felt embarrassed. It was like she was missing an entire part of her sister's life because she had been too stubborn to apologize for thinking she had done Lydia a favor for purchasing that book. It had been three weeks since she had even talked to Lydia. And her third, and final time, watching when she was in the room she had been keeping for the last three weeks at Fitz's, she just felt hurt.

Lizzie had been filming the intro to her video that she was going to prepare with Bing when Gigi had come in to tell the story to the audience of what the letter had told Lizzie. The story of how someone used an innocent young girl in a cruel game of revenge. It had been, to Lizzie, an act of courage but also selflessness. It was something she could show Lydia just to show her what she was getting into. She had to keep reminding herself that no matter what, she couldn't forbade Lydia from seeing George.

* * *

Darcy took her hand with out any prompt from her as the plane jolted into motion. It was just taxing to the runway and already Lizzie could feel her breath pick up in pace. Next to her, Darcy was looking at her with concern and she could head him repeating aloud to her that it was all going to be okay. She squeezed his hand, maybe a little bit harder than necessary but he never complained, and squeezed her eyes shut. A short ride on the plane and she'd be home.

The next thing she remembered was Darcy gently nudging his shoulder, where her head rested. "Where are we? Did we take off?" Lizzie asked, trying to pretend as though she hadn't just been asleep. She had gotten very little sleep the night before as she tossed and turned with thoughts of Lydia and George taking up every inch of her head.

"We landed. You fell asleep," he told her gently, as she lifted her head. Their fingers were still intertwined on the arm rest and Lizzie looked embarrassed. "It's good. Looks like the thing you need to do when you fly is just pass out."

Lizzie took her hand and placed it in her lap. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you or take away the use of your hand."

"Lizzie, it's really fine." How could she ever had hated this man?

Darcy had a car waiting for them as they exited the plane, and he placed his hand on the small of her back as he guided her to it. Lizzie was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that Darcy had no real business being in her hometown. As she slid into the backseat of the town car, she brought this fact up in her own Lizzie-way.

"You know, Darcy, you didn't have to come. I'm sure you were very busy at Pemberley.

"They can make do without me for a few days," he said nonchalantly, closing the door and sitting next to her. "No one will miss me."

"I just... I don't want to be a bother."

Darcy turned to her, "When will you get it through that thick skull of yours that you are anything but a bother for me."

Lizzie flushed but smiled as she hesitantly moved her hand to cover his. He turned his wrist so their palms were touching and squeezed her hand. "Thank you for all of this... and for coming. It means a lot."

Darcy smiled back, rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand. He confessed, "I just wanted to be there for you. It's why I came."

She leaned her forehead against his shoulder and thanked him again before getting lost in her own mind of what she was going to say to Lydia.

* * *

The ride passed with few words exchanged after that and soon they were in front of her house. Darcy opened the door and climbed out, holding it for Lizzie. She stepped out and looked at her familiar, family home. "It's weird being back," she said, more to herself than to him.

"Well good luck," Darcy said, pressing his toe into the ground, suddenly unaware of what to do.

Lizzie looked at him, not sure of the proper protocol of what to do after someone has flown you home. "Thanks."

"You have my number. Call me if you need anything," he said, his voice gruff and his chin escaping into his neck.

Lizzie turned around and started to make her way to her house before turning around. Just like she was expecting, Darcy was still standing outside the car. "Darcy," she said, and he looked up from the ground.

She wasn't sure who reached out first and they probably would never agree if she asked him, but she was almost certain that it was her. She reached for his hand but he placed his on her waist and pulled her to him. Standing torso to torso outside of her home and outside of his rented town car, he leaned down and she leaned up on her tip toes and they were kissing.

She would later describe it to Charlotte as brief but wonderful.

Pulling away, she backed up. "Thanks again for the perfect first date."

"It wasn't... it wasn't really a date."

"First dates are always awkward so let's just say it was so we can have it over with," she called over her shoulder. "Good night, Darcy."

"Good night, Lizzie," he called back before climbing into his car.

-

Lizzie, once inside her house, raced up the stairs two by two. She hadn't even bothered to say hi to her parents as she burst into Lydia's room, who was lying on her bed looking at her laptop.

"Lydia, I forbid you to see him," she said, not noticing that next to Lydia, squished up against the wall had been George Wickham.

Lydia turned her head to glare at Lizzie as George smirked and said, "Hey, peach. When'd you get home?"


	9. In Which Lizzie Talks to Lydia

Lizzie looked past their two heads to what they were watching on the lap top and she could see Darcy's face staring back at her. This whole thing was a mess. Should she have led with that she was forbidding Lydia to see George? No, but what was he doing at their house while their parents are downstairs. Lizzie looked from Lydia, who kept glaring at her, and George, who's mouth was twisted into an evil smirk.

She felt a hand land on her shoulder and she was startled to see her mother behind her. "Oh Lizzie, I didn't know you were coming home. You should have called! I just made dinner for the four of us."

"The four of us?" Lizzie turned, staring at her mom. She expected a lot from her mother but mostly she expected that she would have higher expectations for her daughters' suitors than George Wickham. "He's here for dinner?"

"Why of course he's here for dinner. Lydia has been spending so much time over his house that we thought it was just time for him to come spend a quality night with the family. Mostly so we could see our little Lydia since our other daughters have left us."

Lizzie held in her urge to roll her eyes. "Whatever. I'll be in my room." She turned on her heel and went across the room to her room and slammed her door. It was one thing for George to betray her, or even Lydia... but her own mother? Even she couldn't be so clueless to realize what Lydia dating her ex... ex-fling would do.

She heard a light rap of a knock on her door and assuming it was her mother to apologize or her father to say hello, she pulled the door open to George's stupid grin staring back at her.

"Peach." He was smirking, she couldn't believe he was smirking at her. "I'm so happy to see you. Lydia and I have been waiting for a right time to tell you that we were together."

Lizzie managed to resist slamming the door in his face and instead slowly closed it so he was out of her room. She rubbed her eyes and flopped on her bed. How, how could this be happening. Grabbing her cell phone, she called the one person she thought would know what to do, Jane.

Pressing the phone against her ear, all she heard was the sound of the telephone ringing on the other end. Although she knew Jane was happy with how busy she was at work, Lizzie couldn't help but yearn for the days where Jane was free to pick up a call no matter how late it was. When her voicemail finally came on, Lizzie hung up. This wasn't something to put on her message machine and it wasn't something she really wanted to talk about anyways.

Getting on the plane and flying home had seemed like such a good idea when Darcy had presented the opportunity for it, but she hadn't thought over the entire details. Of course Lydia would be with George. She should have thought about that, but she didn't expect them to be lying in Lydia's bed watching Darcy's video to her. It was like they were trying to see how much they could hurt her in one swoop.

Not they, though. Not really. Lydia was a lot of things but vicious wasn't one of them. When she had watched Lydia's videos, she couldn't help but see how emotionally manipulated Lydia seemed to be. George was a genius at manipulation, anyone besides the person under his spell could see it. He knew exactly what to say to Lydia to really make her dependent on him.

Lizzie felt that part of this was her fault though. She had always been close with Jane and treated Charlotte like her third sister and Lydia had always been her annoying little sister who was crazy. George treated Lydia like he needed her and therefore, she felt like she needed him. But why couldn't Lydia see it?

Turning on her back, she dialed Jane again and hoped that she would pick up. Another voice mail. She debated calling Charlotte, but knew that she would probably be with Ricky working at Collins & Collins. Lizzie didn't want to call Gigi because she didn't want to bring up George to Gigi and she assumed Fitz would be with her. So she dialed who was left, she dialed Darcy.

Before he could pick up, there was another knock at her door and she pressed the End Call button. She got up from her bed and opened the door. Her mother's disapproving face looked back at her.

"Lizzie, who taught you to be so rude?" she asked, brushing past Lizzie with a plate of food for her. "I surely didn't. Your sister, your younger sister may I add, has a gentleman caller over and you were just so unfriendly towards him."

"Mom, it's George Wickham. My George Wikcham."

"He doesn't look like he's yours, Lizzie. He seems quite smitten with your sister and I can't say I disapprove. He is just so charming. You remember that Mr. Darcy fellow, right? Did you know him and George used to be friends?"

She felt bad that her mother was so clueless about what Lizzie did and did not know but it was no time to tell her mother about the videos or how close her and that Mr. Darcy fellow had gotten. "Yes, I've heard that before."

Mrs. Bennet clucked her tongue. "That poor George. Apparently Mr. Darcy was supposed to help him through college but stopped after one semester."

Lizzie tasted a drop of blood in her mouth from so hard she was biting down on her tongue. "I don't think that's really how it went, mom."

"Well good think no one cares what you think, Lizzie," Lydia said, entering Lizzie's room. "Mom, George was hoping to help you finish up dinner. It's nice to see you found some left overs for my dear sister to eat all by herself."

"Oh Lydia, be nice," Mrs. Bennet clucked before excusing herself out of the room. "I'll go help George. Lydia, be down soon. Dinner will be ready in a flash."

Lizzie sat back down on her bed while Lydia closed the door and sat in a chair. "It's nice to see you, Lizzie," Lydia said but her tone enforced that she didn't mean it. "I wish you would have called ahead so we could have had a great family date where you can meet the George that I know."

Lizzie sighed, "About that, Lydia."

"What? You're going to say I can't see him? Lizzie, you're not my parent and as you can see, mom approves."

"Yes and no. I know I'm not your parent but I surely know better George than mom does and you do."

"No, you don't. I've spent more time with George than you ever have. He didn't even like you that much. You didn't mean anything to him as you can see from his timely departure."

"Lydia," Lizzie said, taken aback by her sister's bluntness and cruel tone. "I'm sure George has told you a lot of things but-"

"But what? They're not true because he said them to you and they weren't true? I'm not you, Lizzie. Me and George belong together."

"Is that what he tells you?" she asked as Lydia nodded. "He's told that to a lot of people, Lydia."

Lydia sneered, "Why don't you want me to be happy, Lizzie?"

Lizzie shook her head, "That's it, Lydia. I want you to be happy and I don't think you're happy with him. I saw how you act in your videos."

"George knew you'd be watching them even though you said you wouldn't," Lydia told her in a matter-of-fact way.

"I just saw them yesterday, Lydia. And I didn't like what I saw."

"Because why? Because I'm finally the Bennet sister who's wanted and needed?"

Before their argument could get anywhere, Lizzie's door opened without a knock and George entered. "Am I interrupting?"

"Yes," Lizzie said but Lydia shook her head and stood up.

"Dinner time," George told Lydia who walked out of Lizzie's room without another word. George turned his head to Lizzie and dropped his voice to a level close to a whisper. "Don't ruin this for me, Lizzie. I saw that little video of Gigi's and I'll make sure that Lydia never sees it." With that comment, he raised his voice again and smiled. "See you after dinner, peach."

* * *

Darcy settled into his hotel room in town. The quality of the room was definitely not up to his standards but as he traced the edge of the room key, but he struggled to think of a place he'd rather be at the moment. He left the room for awhile to grab dinner in town, missing Lizzie's call.

When he got back, he noticed the missed call. Calling Lizzie back, he heard the click of the phone on the other end picking up.

"Darcy," Lizzie said, her voice was strained.

"Lizzie, you called earlier? I had just stepped out."

"Can you come get me? I don't think I can stay here tonight. George is here and it's... it's just all wrong."

He had already stood up and headed to the door when she asked if he could get her. "I'll be there in five minutes. I'll call you when I get there."


	10. In Which George is Evil

Lizzie had been dragged downstairs by her mother after they had finished dinner. No one had answered her calls and she had no one to go visit, so she was stuck. But being downstairs was like cruel and unusual punishment. Seeing George touch her sister made the hair on her arms stand up and she just wanted to shake Lydia to show her that George was no good for her or anyone. She was beginning to understand Lydia's point of view on somethings though, it had been wrong for her to present her with that book. Sometimes she forgot that Lydia was the youngest, three years younger than Lizzie and she needed to give her sister growing up time. This, however, was way past the cute rebellious phase.

This wasn't going to end well.

She rolled her eyes as she heard George talk about his swimming accomplishments as she conjured up a picture of Gigi, innocent Gigi, being seduced and used by George Wickham. Lizzie wanted to mention that fact, that accomplishment of his, but her phone which lay in her lap started to vibrate.

"Excuse me," she said softly, standing from where she had been seated on the ottoman in their living room and walking into the kitchen, down the hall. "Darcy," she answered. She wanted to leave, this had been a painful evening and finally she had a means of escaping.

She heard his response, "Lizzie, you called earlier? I had just stepped out."

"Can you come get me? I don't think I can stay here tonight. George is here and it's... it's just all wrong." She hadn't meant to sound desperate, but she felt that way. It was as though no one cared that she had once spent intimate moments with the fraud who was parading himself around as Lydia's lovable, responsible suitor.

"I'll be there in five minutes. I'll call you when I get there."

Leaning against the counter, she felt a sense of relief wash over her. She wouldn't have to spend a moment more with George. But now that she had asked and he was coming, the simple mechanics of it all hit her... where was she going to sleep? She hardly had the money to get a room in an inn and she couldn't ask Darcy to pay for it. He had already done enough. Way too much, actually.

Lizzie's thoughts were interrupted by a very unwanted voice. "Lizzie, we should talk," she heard George say, but she refused to make eye contact with him. Instead, she stared at the pictures on their fridge.

"I don't think we should, George," she lowered her voice. "This isn't a good time, I need to go get ready to leave."

"Leaving so soon?" he sounded like he was mocking her. "Running away to go put it on one of your videos? The audience already sees the real me, Lizzie, and they love it. I'm heartfelt and sentimental, saving your little sister from bad dreams while making her feel needed and loved. I'm the true hero of these videos."

Lizzie scoffed, "A hero? You left Gigi Darcy for money. It's practically reverse prostitution."

George shrugged. "Look, Lizzie, you can see that's not the case here. Your family doesn't exactly have the type of cash I'm looking for."

"So you are in it for money. That's my sister out there and your feelings may be faked but Lydia's feelings are real," she said, pointing down the hall where she could hear the murmers of her sister and parents talking.

He started laughing. "Lizzie, come on, peach. You really think that feelings are something I really care about? Especially Lydia's. She's a silly little child."

She was burning mad, her hands making fists next to her legs. "George, just break it off before you do something you're going to regret."

He stepped closer to her, placing his hands by her sides against the counter, he was trapping her. He pressed his forehead against her shoulder. "Can't you see that you've done this all, peach?"

"Get off me," Lizzie pushed her shoulders into his chest but he had more weight behind him and she could barely get him to budge. "I did nothing. I humiliated a good person with a fake story that you made up for sympathy. I was played by you just like William Darcy, like Gigi Darcy and now my sister."

George took a deep breath in, "And you're the only one that got away untouched so far but if there's one thing I know about you is how much you care about your family." He took a step back and put his hands together like he was about to pray. He looked from his hands and then pointed them at him. "It will be both Lydia's downfall and your own when I'm done with her. I've got her hook, line and sinker and with both yours and your sister's disappearing act from Lydia's life... no matter what you tell her, she won't listen. The only one she trusts now is George Wickham," he shrugged. "Oh wait, that's me."

Lizzie's phone started to buzz on the counter and before she could reach for it, it was in the hands of George. "Give it to me," she said, putting out her palm. She could have believed that he was a bad person before but now she knew that he was just evil. There was a sensitivity chip missing in his small brain.

"William... as in Darcy?" he asked, looking at the caller ID. "Oh that's cute. He makes a video for him and how long after that had you changed his number from Darcy to William? Me and Lydia got a kick out of that video by the way," he said as the phone rang.

Lizzie wanted to punch him or kick him or something. She felt helpless in this situation and that was a new, and very unwanted, feeling. "Just give me the phone, George."

"Is this who's picking you up, Lizzie?" he asked before pressing the answer button. "Hello, Lizzie's phone... this is George speaking," he said into the speaker. "Oh, Darcy, how great to speak with you. Lizzie's actually preoccupied right now so if you want to call... oh you're outside? Well, you can just leave. It's fine. I'll take care of this peach for you."

George, as though Darcy could have seen them, swung his arm around Lizzie and squeezed her into him. She couldn't believe that she used to swoon over him. It was the abs, those wonderful, evil muscles. She elbowed him and slipped out of his grasp. He barely even winced at her attempt to somewhat hurt him. He handed the phone back to her, the screen black, and she hoped that Darcy hadn't left, or worse, thought she had changed her mind about George.

In the background, she could hear a faint knock on the door and she finally excused herself from the kitchen while George looked down the hall at Lydia opening the door. He had plastered a smile on his face as Lydia looked down the hall to the two of them and gave her a small wave. "This isn't over, peach," he whispered into Lizzie's ear as he put his hand on her lower back and practically pushed her down the hall.

"I'm here for Lizzie," Darcy said, his voice polite but not exactly warm.

"You can have her," Lydia responded. Lizzie thought her mother was going to kneel over from too much excitement from the fact that two out of three daughters had gentlemen callers over.

"Why, come in, Mr. Darcy," she said, standing up and fanning herself.

Darcy looked at Lizzie who was over eagerly shaking her head, "Uh... we actually have dinner reservations. But maybe another time, Mrs. Bennet."

"I'll be home tomorrow, mom," Lizzie called over her shoulder, grabbing her coat in one hand and his hand in the other as she pulled him to the cab that was waiting.

Darcy looked at her, "I didn't want to call my driver again. This was the best I could do on such short notice."

Lizzie laughed, "It's perfect. You're a true prince saving a damsel in distress like this.

* * *

Darcy poured the champagne into the two mugs that were in the hotel room and handed one to Lizzie. "Why thank you," she said, doing a fake curtsey as she looked around the room. They had stopped on their way back to the hotel to get snacks and wine and had ended up with cheap champagne with a high alcohol content and a lot of sugary snacks. "And again, thank you for saving me. George is possibly the worst person I have ever met."

"It was my pleasure," he said without thinking. "Well, I would have rather you not been tortured by George Wickham but at least we get to spend this extra time together."

Lizzie smiled as she walked around the small room and placed herself at the foot of the bed, "Oh, so you're an optimist."

"Sometimes," he shrugged, sitting on the bed so that he was facing her. "At least you figured out that he was evil in much less time than it took me."

"I'm not always that great at judging someone's character."

"I know," he smiled. "But I think you're getting better."

Lizzie raised her glass full of wine, some of it spilling it over on to the cheap comforter of the hotel room, "I'll cheers to that."


	11. In Which Lizzie and Darcy Get Drunk

"My name is Lizzie Bennet and I'm getting drunk with Darcy," Lizzie laughed as she raised her glass to her lips and took a big sip. They were already a bottle of cheap champagne down and their seemed to be no stop. Darcy rarely drank as much as this and Lizzie only did when Lydia was around but they were having fun, loosening up. His face was flushed, although hardly as red as Bing's got, and Lizzie was chipper. There were people who cried when they drank and people who got really obnoxiously happy, Lizzie happened to be the latter. At least she was when she had champagne.

They were still sitting in their original spots on the bed, Lizzie at the foot of it and Darcy place somewhere in the middle, but facing her. She had finished her glass and took up with the bottle instead and while he normally would have disapproved of such middle-class behavior (he practically owned travel champagne glasses), he was having fun with Lizzie just the two of them in a dingy hotel room.

"I should call a taxi and go back. At least I'd have liquid courage to show Lydia what was really going on," she was slurring slightly and bobbing her head but the alcohol hadn't completely taken over. Darcy shook his head at that idea but didn't think it registered with her. "Can you believe him?" she asked, pointing to Darcy. "The nerve of George Wickham. How do I meet these people? How do you meet these people? You've been nothing but trouble, William Darcy."

It was the first time he had heard her call him William and Darcy could barely contain his smile. They were stepping forward, he noted, and in a good way. Taking a sip of his own champagne, he continued to listen to her ramble. It was cute.

"Bing and Jane... trouble. Caroline... trouble. You... extra trouble." She covered her mouth as she hicupped from the carbonation in the champagne. "But my life was so mundane before you all came. Mundane and boring and just... nothing to talk about. Imagine how boring my videos would have been without you."

He nodded, only half listening. Instead, he was watching. He noticed the way that she played with her hair more when she was drinking. Darcy had noticed this before, when he used to casually tag along with Bing when he would go out to the local bar to meet Jane. Lizzie was always running her hand through her hair, or fluffing it up, or twirling it on her finger. He watched her as she rolled her eyes up as though she was searching her brain before she talked. But mostly he watched as she leaned closer towards him, such a nice change from when she had barely could stand to be in the same room as he. Although, at the time he hadn't even noticed but looking back, he could have seen the signs. He had been blinded by desire.

"Maybe you've had enough," he teased, playfully reaching for the bottle out of her hands. "I wouldn't want you to say anything you might regret, Miss. Bennet."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, "I think I've done that enough, Darcy. And on the internet. Oh! I have an idea!"

Darcy was scared and worried. Ideas while drunk were never actually good ideas and while he was hardly as drunk as she was, he was tipsy enough that she could probably talk him into anything. Well, being drunk was only a part of that, his need to impress her had probably much more influence than the liquor in his body. "A good one?" he asked, trying to sound uninterested. Maybe if he acted like he didn't care, she would forget about it and go back to what she had been talking about thirty minutes ago: how good looking he was.

"Let's actually make a video." Her eyes lit up as she looked at him like a puppy looked at their human before a walk. "We could do it like Lydia does, on an iPhone. Or, or do you have your lap top? It would be fun. Just a quick one. Just a hello-"

Darcy cut her off, "I have my lap top. But maybe we could make it and then you could watch it tomorrow and decide if you want to upload it."

Lizzie stood up and stumbled over her own feet. As she stood, she could feel the drinks she had poured down her throat reach her head. "Oh, don't be a curmudgeon."

"A curmudgeon?"

"Yes, do I need to define it?"

"No, Lizzie, I know what it is. It's just funny to hear you say it as you slur your words."

She glared at him but started to laugh, not being able to stay serious. "I am not slurring my words. I'm simply putting them all together on purpose." She swung the bottle next to her as she looked around the room. "Where is your lap top?"

"It's right here, Lizzie," he said, pointing to the bed side table.

"Well power it up, pirate," she said before bursting out into a fit of giggles. She covered one of her eyes to mimic an eyepatch before sitting down so close to him that she was practically on top of him.

Darcy did what she said and soon they were staring at themselves after he had turned on his somewhat quality webcam. "Are you sure?"

"Shush, just press record and follow my lead."

Lizzie cleared her throat and waited for a minute before asking him, "Did you press record?"

"It's been recording for the last thirty seconds. I was following your lead."

"You were supposed to tell me," she laughed before pressing the bottle to her lips again and then addressing the camera. "So, this is not in my normal Monday morning Thursday morning schedule but I figured I'd give a little treat. I know how much you guys love to see Will- I mean, Darcy," she caught herself at the last second. "And here he is in all of his drinking champagne out of an inn's most likely dirty coffee cup glory and I'm Lizzie Bennet and I'm a tiny bit tipsy."

Darcy put up his fingers to mimic her adjective of tiny by spread out his hands to tell the truth of just how tipsy she was. "She's full on drunk."

Lizzie pushed him slightly so he was out of the frame and shook her head. "No, I'm not. Well maybe a little but with good reason. That evil George Wickham is at my house right now with my younger sister and my parents and being a stupidly manipulative jerk face liar."

"Jerk face liar?" Darcy raised his eyebrows.

"Be nice or I won't let you be in the video," she told him before turning her head back to the camera. "As I was saying, he is playing his poor me tale to my parents and they are completely buying it. I wanted to gag. Poor Lydia. She's going to be heartbroken and I know what it feels like to be abandoned by George Wickham. Those abs... that smile."

Darcy was now full on staring at her, a little hurt.

"I'm joking," she told him, turning from the lap top that had been perched on the chair. "I was joking. He's actually not that cute. Well, I mean, he is physically attractive but I am not... I am no longer attracted to him. He is no longer my type of guy."

"And what is your type of guy?"

"I don't know. I kind of like them to look like a newsie at times, and wear bow ties. I also prefer them to be a big C.E.O."

"So you're a gold digger?" he teased.

Lizzie frowned. "No, William."

"William?" he repeated.

She bit her lip. Caught red handed. To be honest, she had been referring to him as William in her head since she had heard Gigi say it and it just had a much nicer ring to it. Especially with all the previous bad things that she had attached to the name Darcy. "I guess," she shrugged. "Maybe?"

He nodded in agreement, "I like it. I like the sound of it, Ms. Bennet."

"Lizzie."

"I know, Lizzie." Now it was Darcy's turn to address the camera. "And I think it's time for Lizzie and I to go to bed as it would be dangerous for us to do anything else. Good night."

"Good night," Lizzie said, yawning as she placed the champagne bottle down. As Darcy pressed the stop button, Lizzie took the computer from him and logged on to YouTube. He stepped away to go brush his teeth as she uploaded the video. She probably would regret it in the morning but her viewers would kill her if they didn't see it especially after she tweeted about drinking with Darcy earlier.

She had meant to stay up until he was back so they could figure out sleeping arrangements but between the emotional breakdown of the morning, the flying, the family time, George, and drinking... her eyelids were heavy and Darcy found her in a deep drunk sleep when he came out of the bathroom.

He lifted her from the waist and moved her up so that her head was actually on a pillow and tucked her in. He placed the laptop that she had left next to her on the bed back on the night side table and kissed her forehead before whispering a goodnight to her.

Pushing two chairs together, he got (at least tried to get) comfortable even though half of his body was sagging on the floor. Giving up, he took a pillow and a blanket from the bed and curled up on the floor to sleep.


	12. In Which Lizzie has a Hangover

The light seeping through the crack in the curtains and it felt as though the sun was directly above Lizzie's head. She rolled onto her other side, trying to fight the urge to open her eyes, but between the immense throbbing that was going on in her head and the want to find out what happened, she succumbed to the sun and opened them. Rubbing her eyes with the heel of her palm, she sat up weakly and studied the room. There was no sign of the bottles that she had emptied and, worse, no sign of Darcy. Was she in a different room?

Looking at the bed stand next to her, she saw two Advil laid out on a napkin, a bottle of water and a note. Before she got to the note, she swallowed the Advil and chugged the bottle of water. With a little more clarity, she studied herself in the mirror across from the bed. She was wearing the same thing as the night before and while her hair was a mess, it just looked like she had slept on it... not done anything. The fact she had very little recollection of the night before was a tad bit concerning.

Unfolding the note carefully, she saw Darcy's neat, meticulous handwriting staring back at her.

Lizzie,  
Unfortunately, I got a business call early this morning. I didn't want to wake you, so I wrote the note. Breakfast is on me, I should be back around noon if you want to wait.

Yours,  
William.

William? Since when had she been on a first name basis with Darcy? Glancing at the hotel clock, it was only 10:00 A.M. She pushed off the sheets and started to look for her phone, which had been squeezed between the mattress and the bed frame. Unfortunately for her, her new phone only had slightly a better battery and it was as dead as can be. Darcy had left his phone charger and so while she went to breakfast, she left her phone in the room.

Making her way into the small dining area, she spotted a familiar face. "Darcy," she said, coughing as she tried to make the act of smoothing her hair down look as casual as possible. "I thought... I thought you had a call?"

"Yes, well," he started and she noticed that much unlike herself, he looked no worse than he did last night... maybe even better, if that was possible, "it was much, much shorter than I anticipated and I didn't want to reenter the room incase you were... indecent."

"Indecent?"

"Well, in the middle of getting dressed, that sort of thing. So I've been sitting out here for awhile, I just got off the phone with Gigi. Do you want to sit," he asked, standing up to pull out her chair.

"Thank you," she said, her brows furrowing. "And thank you for the Advil and the bed... where did you sleep?" Lizzie sat down and noted that he had pulled out the chair closest to him and not the one that had been across from him.

Darcy cleared his throat, raising his hand to signal a waitress, and then said, "Well, the floor."

She covered her face in her hands, "The floor? Oh, Darcy, you should have said something. I probably was in much better floor shape than you were."

He shrugged, but before he could talk the waitress came over to ask for Lizzie's order. She ordered a large cup of coffee and a bagel, but she wasn't sure that she could keep anything down. "I feel like I made a total fool out of myself," she said, looking down at the table. "I must have acted like an idiot last night. It's why I don't drink that often. I, honestly, don't remember much."

Darcy started to laugh, "You were... charming. I probably would be in as bad of shape as you but you were quite the bottle hog."

The waitress came back with Lizzie's order and a refill for Darcy's own coffee. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you last night." At that, Darcy looked a little rejected. "No, no, I mean... I should have been able to handle George Wickham or at least been able to sit in my room while he was downstairs. I didn't mean to inconvenience you, Darcy."

"So, we're back to Darcy?" his voice had traces of disappointment in it as he looked away before regaining his composure and shaking his head. "Lizzie, when are you going to get it that you're not an inconvenience. If you hadn't had called, I would have done work from my hotel room last night. It was much more entertaining to share a few bottles of champagne with you, believe me."

Lizzie, brushing over his first comment, started to smile. The strain on her cheeks from the smile reminded her of her pounding headache and she took a sip of the coffee. "We didn't... uh... we didn't do..?"

Darcy shook his head with a slight chuckle. "I would never take advantage of that situation, Lizzie. All we did was talk and make a video which I think you deleted but I actually don't know."

Lizzie's face went pale, if that was even possible since her hungover face was already pretty ghostly. "A video?"

* * *

Back in the room, Darcy powered on his laptop and typed in Lizzie's YouTube channel. There it was, in grainy quality, a screen capture of a video that Lizzie had no recollection of making. Actually, if she thought really hard, she could remember hitting upload before she had unceremoniously fell asleep. "Oh my God," she said, as she pressed her hand over his and made him hit the play button.

Lizzie watched between her fingers as she slurred her words and called him William, so that was what his comment had been about earlier. "I need to delete this," she groaned before noticing the comments and the likes. "Except I think I would be murdered if I did."

"And then I would be without my favorite inconvenience," he bumped his shoulder against hers.

Lizzie covered her face again with her hands and flopped on her back on the bed, "I've done a lot of embarrassing things on my videos but this just might take the cake."

"Embarrassing?" he asked, not sure which part she was talking about. If it was the actual being drunk in the video or the being nice to him.

Lizzie uncovered her face and put her hands on the bed. "Just being drunk and making a video, in such low quality too! I'm never going to hear the end of this."

Darcy laid down next to her, letting his pinky hook hers. She didn't pull away which he took as a sign that their kiss outside her house hadn't been a fluke. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about it and when it would happen again.

Lizzie slid on the bed so the curves of her were aligned with the curves of him, well as best as they could. "You've really been so great through this all." She had lowered her voice, trying to still the increased heart rate that she was experiencing. "I wouldn't have been able to manage without you."

Darcy slid on to his side, running his thumb over her forehead. "You would have managed just fine, I assure you, but I was glad to be here and still be here for whatever you may need."

She followed his lead, turning to her side, and pressed her hand against his chest. "You really are great, William... Darcy."

Even though Lizzie still wasn't completely comfortable saying just William while sober, it was just the kick he needed to lean in, their chests touching, and press his lips against hers. She moved her hand to the back of his neck as she reciprocated the kiss, letting her lips part slightly before they were interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. She pulled away slightly as his lips found the skin of her neck. "We can just let it ring," she said softly and as the ringtone faded, she left out a soft sigh until it started up two seconds later.

Darcy pulled away this time and rolled to his back. "You should get that," he told her, rubbing his hand down her arm.

She nodded, "I should." Standing up, she smoothed down her shirt before picking up her newly-charged phone. "Charlotte? ... Are you sure it's here? ... And George Wickham? ... You're positive? ... No, I'm home, well not technically at home but I can be in a few minutes."

Darcy noticed Lizzie getting visibly more upset as the phone call went on and stood up and walked next to her, putting his hand on her lower back. As she hung up, there were tears in her eyes. "Just when I thought her dating George was bad enough, there's a..." she stopped, not able to finish her sentence.

"A what?" he asked.

"A sex tape," she said, before collapsing on to the bed. "I need to get home."

"Of course, I'll get you a cab."

Lizzie paused, "Thank you for everything, Darcy, but it's fine. I can get one and I'll just, I don't know, call you later."


	13. In Which Lizzie Comforts Lydia

It had been a mistake. A complete, major mistake to have that conversation with Lydia on camera, but if it had proved one thing it was that Lydia had no part in the website or the video. Lizzie sighed as she reached to turn off the camera and half wanted to cry - for Lydia, for their relationship, for George even, how could someone truly be that bad to do all these awful things - and half of her wanted to scream and curse. Instead, she did neither. Gathering her things, she quietly made her way upstairs and placed them into her bedroom.

Going across the hall, Lizzie pressed her ear against the door. It had been so much easier that morning, when the worst that could happen, or so she thought, was that her sister was dating George. She could have handled that, was prepared to handle that, but this- this was a completely different ball game and she had no idea how to approach it.

Through the door, she could hear Lydia cry, sob actually. She took a deep breath and tried to put herself in Lydia's shoes, but she couldn't. She had no idea what it was like to have someone you loved betray you in such a large scale manner. Lizzie didn't know what George thought or if he loved her sister, but she could tell that Lydia had truly loved him.

"Lydia?" she called through the door, pressing her hand against the wood.

"Go away," she heard, through sniffles and sobs. Lizzie's heart ached. This was her little sister. Sliding down the door, she sat with her back against it. Lydia was strong willed and if she didn't want Lizzie in the room, she could at least sit near the room.

How could Lizzie be so harsh towards Lydia? Beyond the video, she hadn't even called her since the holidays and it had been more than a month. If she had picked up the phone, she could have prevented this and if not prevented, at least had a better understanding of where her sister was coming from.

She had tried to explain this reasoning to Darcy, who had insisted on waiting with her in the lobby of the hotel and paying for her cab.

* * *

"If I had just stopped being petty, if I had picked up the phone and just called her to check in. I know we were fighting, but it had been a month. I don't even remember why I was mad at her in the first place. I guess mad at her because she was mad at me." Lizzie breathed in heavily though her own quiet tears rolling down her face. "I know she lashed out but... I guess that was her right. I shouldn't have given her that book, at least not in that way. And who was I to tell her that she should grow up. She's 21, not my age or Jane's age. She's still a kid, a kid who just became legal to drink. Oh my God, she's only 21. This is going to follow her forever."

They were sitting on the ratty couch that was in the lobby and Darcy had his arm draped over her back, his fingers lightly going in circles into her shoulder. "Lizzie, listen to me. The earlier you understand this, the easier it will be for you. It is not your fault."

Lizzie shook her head against his shoulder. "You don't understand-"

Darcy cut her off. "Don't I? Lizzie, if anyone understands what you are going through it is me. I walked in on my sister and... well, I've been where you were sitting. Not the supposed video, but the George hurting someone I love incredibly much part. And as much as you are going to blame yourself, your sister is her own person. She made this decision to see George Wickham and you can't blame yourself.

"But-"

"Lizzie, listen to me. I have spent too much time blaming myself for what happened and my sister's incident with George was actually my fault. If I hadn't kept her in the dark about his intentions, she would have never thought it would be a good idea to let him move in with her. And worse, I wrote him a check in front of her to prove my point. I hurt my sister more than George ever could and I don't want you to do the same."

* * *

"Lydia, please let me in. I just want to be there for you."

There was no response from the other side of the door except muffled sniffles and the occasionally break in silence as she could hear Lydia leaving message after message for George. Lizzie didn't blame her for not opening the door. If she was in the same position and Jane thought she had a part to do with a video like this, she wouldn't have been able to handle that either.

Lizzie sighed, knocking her knuckles against the door again. "Lydia, I just want to talk." Lizzie could hear her own phone beeping from text messages in her bedroom but she made no move to go get it. "Lydia, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I even thought you were a part of the website. I just... I guess I hoped that you were in on it only to spare you the pain of this situation. Well, actually, I just wasn't-"

She stopped talking as the door quickly opened behind her and Lydia stood above her, her eyes swollen and red, mascara running down her cheeks. Sniffling, she silently motioned for Lizzie to enter the room. It was at least some progress.

* * *

The cab pulled up in front of the hotel. "I think that's your ride," Darcy told her, nudging his shoulder slightly upwards. They had sat in silence since he had told her not to blame herself. Lizzie still did, she just wasn't being vocal about it. She wasn't being vocal about anything. Instead, she was thinking of her family, her sisters, and the repercussions of this. Her family had no money to stop a video like this and no means to even know where to start.

"Thank you for waiting with me, Darcy," she said, wiping a stray tear from her cheek as she stood. "It meant a lot."

As Lizzie turned to leave, Darcy reached for her forearm and pulled him to her and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm here if you need anything," he told her, kissing the top of her head. Despite the situation surrounding her sister, Lizzie allowed herself to smile slightly as she felt Darcy encompass her. He was a bright spot in this entire situation and she had a feeling that the situation was just beginning.

He had walked her out to the cab, leaning in to give the cab driver money. "Darcy, don't-" but he shook off Lizzie's protest and knocked his knuckles against the window of the cab as it drove off. Once they were out of sight, he pulled out his phone from his pocked and dialed Fitz.

"I need your help. There's something going on with Lizzie's sister and I need you to help me. There's a website... a supposed sex tape and-"

Fitz coughed on the other line, "What? Slow down, Darcy. There's a what? With who? Where are you right now?"

* * *

Lizzie sat on Lydia's bed, her arms wrapped around her sister's fragile frame. Her sister, who usually acted like nothing could touch her in the world - flying in and out of situations with such ease - was sobbing into Lizzie's arm. "He said, he said he loved me. I love him. And he loves me. That video, that website... it's not George. It can't be George."

Lizzie was without words, not having any idea what to say to her sister that wouldn't come off as insensitive. "It's okay, Lydia," she tried to soothe her, her hand rubbing her sister's shoulder. "It's going to be okay."

Lydia started to get worked up again. "I just - this can't be happening. We are in love."

"I know." It was no use fighting with her sister over this fact as the more Lizzie sat with Lydia, the more she could tell that her sister really was in love with George Wickham. He had manipulated her away from her family, convincing they wouldn't understand their epic love, and had made her rely completely on him and now he pulled the rug from underneath her and she had lost her footing completely. Lizzie could see it, Lydia was more lost than ever. The best she could do was be there and try to at least be a comforting figure for her. There was nothing she could do or say that would make this situation better, at least not at the moment.

"How could he do this to me? No, it can't be him. Someone must have taken his phone and made the website and George's phone must be broken and that's why he hasn't called me back. It can't be George. He wouldn't- I love him. I am good enough for him. I know this isn't him, Lizzie. Something must have happened."

Lizzie couldn't tell if Lydia believed what she was saying or not or if it was a coping technique - denial before acceptance. She bit her lip and tried to stay silent on it. Lydia had just let her in, figuratively and literally, and she didn't want to do anything to hurt that but she couldn't let George be canonized in Lydia's head to have it all come crashing down again.

She took a deep breath in, "I think you need to examine the possibilities, Lydia, that George is behind-"

"You don't understand us!" she bellowed.

They both heard Lizzie's phone from the other room starting to ring.

"You should get it," Lydia said, her moment of opening back up to Lizzie over as she realized that Lizzie wasn't going to be on the same page as her. "Everyone else is more important to you than me anyways." Lydia's eyes started to well up again and she grabbed a pillow and put her face into it.

Lizzie did get up, but not because anyone was more important, but she was hoping it was Jane who she had called unsuccessfully many times on the cab ride from the hotel. "I'll be right back," she said as she stood and placed her hand on Lydia's shoulder.

In her room, she grabbed her phone from the bed and just missed the call. Not from Jane but from Darcy. Looking through her missed calls, she had many from Darcy. Closing that, she was about to call him when she saw text messages that she had missed as well.

The most recent was from Darcy and read:

Lizzie, can't reach you but I'm on my way to Newport Beach. Gigi told me to look there so I'm going to try to get ahead of George and find him. Be strong, it's not your fault. Call me if you need anything.


	14. In Which Two Sisters Have a Moment

She was broken, that was the only good way to describe Lydia at the moment. Broken, both heart and soul, and in no want of being repaired. She wanted so desperately to believe that George was good, that he was decent, that he wanted and loved her but every moment that passed without a word, she started to doubt him. Lydia started to doubt every moment they spent, every word that was said and felt an ache in her chest like no other. There was a reason she had spent her adolescence with boy's at an arm length's away - the pain was too much for her to bear.

Pressing her face deeper into her pillow, she screamed into the fabric. How could she prove everyone right, that she was a stupid, little girl and he was a manipulative bastard? After everything they had talked about, all the reassuring that he gave her. Lydia had been so sure of this one thing, that she was good enough for him and now she realized that maybe she was too good. She had been so busy wondering if she was good enough for him that she forgot to ask if he was good enough for her.

Rolling on her back, she grabbed Kitty from her floor and tried to get the cat to stay with her, to comfort her in the time of need. Lizzie had stepped out for a few moments, it had started with checking her phone and then she had heard her call people. She heard her on the phone with Jane, asking for her to come back, with Charlotte, trying to find out if Charlotte or Ricky knew anyone who could help, with Fitz, who somehow had contacts, and with Darcy.

And Lydia had no one.

She let Kitty escape her arms as she heard a knock at her door. "I just want to be alone," she called out, holding a pillow to her chest and knocking her head against her bed frame. "Go away, I want to just be alone."

Of course Lizzie refused to take that as an answer, and turned the knob of the door and walked in. Lydia could see in Lizzie's expression that Lizzie felt bad for her and the pity was just making her feel worse. "Can't you just let me have my way right now? I don't want to talk about this. I still don't think it was George."

Her voice sounded as broken as she felt and she could feel the hot sting of tears rolling down her face. Even though she tried to convince Lizzie that it wasn't George, she was now trying to convince herself. In the time that Lizzie was gone, she had called him, texted him and even tweeted him to no response. If he was innocent, all he had to do was call her back and she would believe him. She wanted, no- she needed to believe that he wasn't behind this.

Lydia didn't want to be the one who everyone pitied.

"Lydia, I just want to be there for you," Lizzie told her, sitting at the foot of her bed and frowning. "I'm sorry for what I said downstairs."

"It's fine," she said, clamming up and holding her knees to her chest. "I'm sure everyone thinks I had a part of it. Slutly little Lydia, right?"

"You're not a slut, Lydia."

"I know that, Lizzie," she snapped, brushing a tear away from her cheek. She wasn't mad at Lizzie, at least not anymore. Lydia knew that she was just being the protective older sister, but if she couldn't lash out at George then she was going to at the person closest in proximity to her. "That picture, on the website," her voice started to crack again and soon she was sobbing.

"Lydia, please don't..." Lizzie started before ending what she was going to say there. "Cry away. I would, too. Just let it all out," she said, sliding down the bed and embracing her younger sister again.

Lydia tried to stop her sobbing but she started to almost hyperventilate from the crying. "I- took- the- picture," she said between breaths, pressing her face into Lizzie's shoulder and trying to keep herself calm. "I took it. It was for me and him. I took the picture and now everyone can see it."

Lizzie tried to calm her sister through rubbing her back but she didn't think anything was going to work. How could you soothe someone whose world just turned completely dark, as though all the lights had all turned off at once? If that month that she was gone and Jane was busy, George had been there for Lydia and it was this realization that Lizzie had that made her know she had to tread carefully. To her, George was an evil man who preyed on younger souls. To Lydia, George was a friend, a lover and someone who made her fall in love. Although she still saw him in her light, she had to see him the way Lydia saw him to empathize with her younger sister.

"It wasn't meant for anyone to see. It was just a moment between us," Lydia had calmed herself down enough that her words were less breathless and more of a whimper. "And now he's using it to promote a video to make money off of me, of our moments."

"I know," Lizzie said, her voice soft. She wanted to take some of the pain Lydia was going through and transferring it to herself. "I can't... I can't imagine, Lydia. But I'm sure we can stop it."

"How? How are we going to stop it? He won't even call me back," Lydia was breaking again. "He won't even call me or text me at all. He said he loved me. We were in love."

Everything kept circling back to this, that they were in love. Lydia looked like a child as she cried into Lizzie's arm and Lizzie felt as she had when they used to be younger and Lydia would get hurt- protective. She never wanted the world to be so hurtful and yet she couldn't stop it from hurting the people she loved.

"It's going to be okay," she tried to assure the younger one.

"What if mom and dad... oh my God, Lizzie, what if they see it? And they know George. It's going to hurt them... what if they see it? Or their friends? I'm going to be a laughing stock. I'm going to be the girl people pity. But... it can't be happening. He said he loved me."

There it was again. Lizzie sighed, holding her sister closer. "Lydia, listen to me. George Wickham is a man filled with evil. He loves no one but himself. He likes to build people up and then destroy them. It happened to Gigi Darcy, you are not alone. And I know we haven't been talking this last month and I am so, so sorry for that. If I had been there... I don't know, maybe this wouldn't have happened but it did and it's happening but no one will be mad at you. Mom and dad... they won't see it, they barely know how to turn on a computer. And even if they do, they'll see a girl who just turned 21 being taken advantage of by a man who should have known better. You loved him, no one faults you for that Lydia. We all fall for people we're not supposed to love," she took a deep breath. "Everything is going to work out and this will, eventually, make you stronger. I'll be here for you, Jane's coming home. No one is going to pity you. This wasn't your fault. You are the victim of a man's evil doings and it's not your fault. George might have said he loved you, but he wouldn't have done this if he had. But I love you and Jane loves you and Mom and Dad love you and we're all going to be here for you. Alright?"

Lydia was silent but Lizzie could feel her head nod and Lizzie just held her closer.


	15. In Which Lizzie Has a Valentine

"William, you have to tell Lizzie that it was you that got the video down," Gigi spoke softly into the phone as she leaned back on her bed. She had just finished watching Lizzie's video and had called her brother immediately the viewing. "I can't believe you haven't told her you were involved."

"They are going through a lot right now," Darcy said, pressing the gas down in his car as he got on to the highway. "I don't want to add anything that doesn't need to be there. They don't need to know about how the video was down, just that it is down."

Gigi sighed, "William. She knows you were going down there, why can't you just say you found him? Or tell her to watch my videos, kind of pull a Lizzie on Lizzie. Lizzie-ception?"

"Gigi," Darcy huffed. "I don't think I need any of your advice right now on how to handle this. I've got it."

"My advice helped you land the girl," she protested, blowing a piece of hair out of her eye. "At least get you a shot at the girl and this... this would be the icing on the cake. William, don't let anyone else get the credit."

Darcy was shaking his head even though his sister couldn't see him. "No. I don't want... I don't want her to feel as though she owes me anything, Gigi. It's better if she doesn't know there was anything monetary. I want her to... I don't know."

"You want her to like you for you and not the money. I get it, William, I do. But... you already know she likes you."

"No."

It was his final answer and Gigi knew it, he locked it in and no matter how much she begged and pleaded for truth to prevail, Darcy was going to selectively choose to not tell Lizzie how George's plan ended. "Fine."

"And you are not to tell her or hint it to her. If she finds the videos on her own, fine, but Gigi... we've meddled enough."

"Ugh, William."

"I don't need Lydia to know the monetary value of the video. I made the mistake of writing a check in front of you and I can't do that again."

Thinking back, reluctantly, to her own experience, Gigi did remember feeling worthless that her affections or a ban of them could be bought, that there was a price that could be paid for her to be thrown away. "Okay, William. I get it."

"Look Gigi, I have to go. I'm on the highway and I shouldn't be on the phone."

"Okay, call me later. Where are you going anyways?"

Darcy coughed, "Um.. just around. Making my way back to San Francisco but I have a stop to make."

* * *

Lizzie, Jane and Lydia were sitting on Lydia's bed, her laptop in front of them with the website of the video saying it was down. It had been like that since the day before when they first found out the video was down. "Your turn, Jane," Lydia said, her voice soft before closing her eyes.

It had been a ritual. Every hour, they refreshed the page to make sure that it was still down and not coming back. "Still not there guys, you can uncover your eyes," Jane said, leaning back against the wall and putting her head on Lizzie's shoulder, who sat in the middle. "I think we can stop refreshing it now. I don't think it's coming back."

"Maybe one more hour, just in case," Lizzie said, squeezing Lydia's shoulder. "I'm so glad whoever got it down is out there. I don't know what we would have told mom if she ever found out. At least dad is sensible, mom would have gone on about white picket fences being destroyed and her grandchildren that will never be."

Lydia shrugged, she was still not a hundred percent but she was getting there. Since the video had happened, she spent more time with her sisters than she had in the last few months and they were truly bonding and surprisingly without cameras. "Maybe I should tell her now that it's over just so I don't have to hear her talking about how wonderful G- I mean that guy was."

"You could just say you broke up," Lizzie suggested.

"Look how heartbroken mom was when Bing left though, break ups just make it worse," Jane inputted, leaning forward to look at Lydia. "Just do what you think is right and if that is telling mom, we'll both be here to support you."

Lizzie went to open her mouth when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," she offered, pushing herself off the bed and started to make her way out the door before she remembered Jane mentioning Bing. "Jane, have you heard from Bing recently?"

Jane scrunched up her face, "No, but I haven't really talked to anyone since this all happened. My phone's been off or charging in my room and I haven't checked it. Why?"

"Maybe you should check your phone or your twitter..." Lizzie said cryptically before exiting the room and taking the stairs to downstairs by two. Upstairs, she could hear Jane calling to her for an explanation. Lizzie figured since it was Valentine's Day, she could try to do one good thing. Unfortunately, she couldn't conjure up a man for Lydia but she figured her younger sister needed some alone time anyways. By alone, Lizzie meant sister time.

Opening the door, she was surprised to see Darcy looking back at her with roses in his hand. "William Darcy," she said, smiling.

* * *

Darcy had decided that if he could make it, he would get to Lizzie for Valentine's Day. He had rented a car to drive back from Newport Beach where Gigi had first clued him into and the Domino application had confirmed the location and he had been determined to be able to reach Lizzie's house.

He thought a lot on the ride back, about Lizzie and his family and friends. So much had changed over these last few months and Darcy felt lighter, happier. It was a strange feeling but for once he felt his age and not like the C.E.O role he often put on himself. He knew that he should, as Gigi suggested, tell Lizzie that he had found Wickham and paid a hefty fee to get the video off but he also knew that Lizzie, in all of her rights and wrongs of the world, would want to pay him back somehow, someway.

But he didn't want payment back, he wanted her and her family to be happy and if he had to write a check to stop the evil people of the world, well he had pen and checkbook in hand. Darcy had called Fitz on the way home to give him the update and to ask him if he could keep an eye on Gigi for the next few days if he didn't make it home right away. He was concerned that while Gigi kept a brave face, she might have trouble with the reality of talking to George again and if he couldn't be there, at least Fitz would be there.

"Of course," Fitz had said. "But where are you going to be? Can't you just fly back?"

"I just have to go somewhere for maybe a night."

"To see her?"

"Fitz," he had argued.

"It is Valentine's Day tomorrow, make sure to bring flowers."

* * *

Lizzie wasn't sure what to do, to hug him or take the flowers or what. Instead, she offered him to come in and he awkwardly stepped into the house. "I just wanted to stop by," he said, awkwardly. "Have you ate yet?" He handed her the flowers, kind of a shove at her more than a tender gesture.

She took the roses and blushed considerably, "Thank you for these," she said, lifting them up slightly. "If I knew you were coming, I would have gotten you something. A card... chocolate... that kind of thing. Hey, I thought you were in Newport."

"I'm just passing through your area."

"Did you take a wrong turn?" she joked and could see his cheeks flush slightly, which just made hers even more red.

From upstairs, she heard Lydia call down. "Who is it?"

"Darcy," she called back and could hear a loud 'oh' from Lydia.

Placing the flowers in a vase, Lizzie put them on the kitchen counter. "Thank you again, Darcy. Oh my God, I didn't tell you. The video was taken down!"

"I'm so glad," he said stiffly, resisting any urge to say more and then repeating his other question. "Have you ate, Lizzie? Maybe we could... grab something?"

"Like a date?" she asked shyly. "I've kind of been hanging out with my sisters but... let me check with them. I just don't want to leave Lydia without her being okay with it."

"Like a date," he confirmed, slightly smiling that she had basically said yes.

"Just wait here for one second," she said, practically skipping as she went upstairs.

* * *

A few minutes later and a lot of assurances that Jane and Lydia would be fine without her for a few hours, Lizzie came back downstairs where she saw Lydia talking to Darcy in low voices.

"Thank you, Darcy," she heard her sister say.

"Thank you for what?"

Lydia looked startled as she turned around and took a minute to find her words. "I was just thanking him for getting you out of Jane and my hair for a little while, sis." Lydia rolled her eyes and gave Lizzie a hug before going upstairs.

"What she was thanking you for?" Lizzie quizzed Darcy again, noting the answer Lydia had given seemed off.

"Exactly what she just said," he told her, before placing his hand on her lower back and walking them to the front of the house. "I told her it was my pleasure."


	16. In Which Lizzie And Darcy Go Out

"So how'd it go?" Jane asked from the couch as Lizzie stepped into the living room. It was just past ten, and Lizzie still had a goofy smile on her face from the date. "I'm guessing good."

Lizzie shrugged as she collapsed on the couch next to her older sister, "It went... well." Jane laughed, slinging her arm around Lizzie and leaning her head on Lizzie's shoulder. "Where's Lydia?"

"Oh, she's upstairs. She wanted to be alone for a little while after you left. I think Valentine's day is getting to her a little bit but I've checked on her and brought her tea, she seems okay."

"Do you think I should have stayed home?"

"No, Lizzie, she knows we all are going to have to move on from this," Jane said, squeezing Lizzie's shoulder. "I think it was good for all of us to have you go out, a reminder that life goes on. And this won't be the end of the world, you know. Especially since the video is down."

Lizzie nodded. "What did you do while I was gone?"

"Watched your videos. I feel like we haven't talked in awhile, I've just been so busy at work... well, the job that I used to have. I should have caught up on them awhile ago and found out what was going on in your life and at Pemberley Digital. It also explained why Darcy showed up here and asked you on a Valentine's Date."

"Did you watch them all?"

"You mean the one that you and Bing and Charlotte co-conspired on... yes, I watched it. Well, part of it. It's hard for me, Lizzie."

"I know. Maybe I shouldn't have helped."

"No, no, it was nice- it's just that he still hasn't called. All those words and everything are sweet but they mean nothing if he won't even pick up his phone and call me himself."

Lizzie nodded and started to say something before she heard quiet footsteps on the stairs. "Lydia?" she called out.

Lydia walked into the living room and sat next to Lizzie on the couch. "I couldn't fall asleep and I keep clicking refresh on the website even though I think I know it's not going to come back. I figured sleep might help but every time I close my eyes, I see his face."

"Oh, Lydia," Jane said, leaning over and looking at her sister. "Anything we can do to help?"

"Lizzie could tell me about her date... it might distract me for a little bit."

"Are you sure you want to hear about that, Lydia?"

"My romantic life might be in shambles but that doesn't keep me from being your sister and wanting to hear about all the, I'm sure, boring details about your Valentine's day."

"Well.. fine."

* * *

"Is this place okay," Darcy asked for the fourth time since he had pulled the car into the restaurant and they had entered.

"More than okay, Darcy," she assured him again, taking a sip of her wine. "It's great, I can't believe you got a reservation last minute."

Darcy cleared his throat, "Yeah, it was surprising to me that they still had a table available."

What he left out was the fact the restaurant had been full but he had said his name and the person on the phone had started to freak out a bit. Turns out, the staff of the restaurant had not only heard of him but watched Lizzie's video and somehow managed to squeeze another table into the restaurant for them to sit at. It also explained why the waiter seemed a little uncomfortable, a little like a fan meeting a celebrity, while taking their drink orders and insisting the first round was on the house.

"So did you ever find anything in Newport Beach?" Lizzie asked, leaning back in her chair and running her fingers over the edge of the tablecloth.

Darcy shook his head, "No. Someone else must have found him before I got there." The lie came easily to him to say but he felt uneasy saying it to Lizzie's face but as he had told his younger sister, it was the right thing to do. He had done this for himself and Gigi just as much as he did it for Lizzie and Lydia and their family. Darcy had been unable to save Gigi from Wickham but he could at least spare some of the pain that Wickham tried to inflict on the Bennet family.

"Well, thank God they did. I can't even imagine what today would have been like if the video came out. I almost got sick just thinking about it before. And Lydia, she's just not herself right now but she's getting better."

* * *

"Boring," Lydia interrupted. "This is so boring. Please tell me it gets better. You're putting me to sleep," she said and feigned a yawn.

"Well you did say you couldn't sleep," Jane teased. "Maybe Lizzie is just trying to help out in her own Lizzie way."

"Thanks guys," Lizzie rolled her eyes. "I'm just trying to lay out the scene."

"Well, Lizzie, the scene is boring. This isn't making me feel better, it's just making me sad for you and for me. Didn't it get more exciting?"

"We were just at dinner, what do you expect?"

"Kissing, holding hands, flirting over the table with your eyes? Anything besides small talk where the small talk consists of me."

"Okay, I'll fast forward through dinner."

* * *

"Do you want dessert, Lizzie?" Darcy asked, his hand had made it's way from the table to Lizzie's knee over the course of the cheese plate appetizer and the main course.

Lizzie's cheeks were flushed. She wasn't sure if it was from the wine or from Darcy's presence. "No, I'm all set," she said, lacing her fingers with his under the table. "But if you want it... you can get it."

Darcy smiled, "No, no, I'm quite alright. I'm glad you came out with me tonight, Lizzie."

"Same," Lizzie smiled back, leaning slightly towards him. "Thanks for inviting me, it was really sweet and dinner was amazing and so was the company. Are you going to be in town for awhile more?"

Darcy's smile turned slightly down, "No, actually, I have to head back tonight. I need to check on Gigi and I have a few loose ends to tie up back at work. Are you coming back? To, uh, finish your internship thing?"

Lizzie nodded and then shook her head, "I'm not really sure, actually. I need to talk to my professor about that. I'm not sure if what I've done already is enough for Pemberley but San Francisco was lovely and I'm glad I was there for awhile."

"Well, I hope you come back, Lizzie," he said, turning his hand over on her knee and squeezing her's gently. "I don't know if the office will ever be the same now that you made your mark on it. You've really made people fall in love with you," he coughed slightly. "I mean, the employees. They really like you."

"I really like them, too," Lizzie said, shying away from saying anything more than that. She leaned over the table and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll miss it if I don't come back."

"Well you are always welcome there, Lizzie."

* * *

"He practically told you that he loved you," Lydia said with a slight yawn. "And you just said you liked his employees? Lame."

"Lydia, he was saying his employees liked me. It's not the same."

"I agree with Lydia, Lizzie," Jane said without opening her eyes, her head was against the pillow on the couch. "I think he was saying more than that and you are just being difficult."

"Well, it's a little fast."

"Fast? He told you he loved you months ago and you're just dragging this out," Lydia argued. "If you know, you know."

"Well.. I don't know what I know or even if he's going to want me to come visit if I don't have to shadow at Pemberely again."

"Lizzie, you are being ridiculous. You have to go back," Lydia said, nudging her head onto Lizzie's shoulder and yawning again. "Now finish the story, it's a good bedtime tale."

* * *

"Well, this is your house," Darcy said, pulling the car to the side.

"Yes, this is my house," she said, placing her hands on her thighs and trying to convince herself to open the door. "This was great, Darcy. I had a really great time," she said, watching him as he opened his own door. Maybe he didn't have a great time like she did, she had thought the conversation had carried on effortless and the chemistry was there and yet it seemed as he was now rushing her to get out of the car as he opened her door.

Lizzie stepped out of the car, "Thank you, again, for everything. The company down here and the help and this date."

Darcy nodded, slightly awkwardly as he tried to figure out what to do. "Thank you for coming, again."

Lizzie nodded. "So, I guess... I guess I should go inside now. I hope we can do this again... William."

He smiled, leaning against her and her against the car. "Maybe you can go inside in a minute or two, Lizzie."

He ran his hand through her hair, letting in linger on the back of her head as he leaned in and kissed her. Lizzie's arms, unconsciously, wrapped themselves around his waist, letting her hands linger on the small of his back and pulling him closer to her. Darcy's hand slightly curled into her hair before they both pulled away. Darcy leaned in slightly, kissing her briefly a second time.

"Call me tomorrow?" she asked as he stepped away and took her hand to walk her to the door.

"I'll do that gladly," he said, as they reached her front door.

"Well, then..." Lizzie stalled, trying to prolong the moment. "I'll talk to you then."

They leaned into each other, kissing one last time before Lizzie reluctantly opened the door behind her. "Safe flight."

* * *

Lizzie looked around to her sister's, both of them fast asleep on the couch. "Well, I guess I see what you two think of my story telling." Standing up from the couch, she grabbed two blankets and covered up her sister's, kissing their foreheads before moving upstairs.

Flopping on to her bed, Lizzie grabbed her phone from her purse and sent a quick text message to Darcy.

"Just wanted to say thank you again and good night. Talk to you tomorrow xx."


	17. In Which There is a Phone Call

"How was the flight?" Lizzie asked, hugging her pillow to her chest, and crossing her legs on her bed. She had been waiting for the call, almost embarrassingly so, since the morning. She had tried to distract herself by talking to Jane more about Bing and getting Lydia to agree to go out with Mary and Eddie, but once her phone rang she bounced up the stairs to her room and answered almost breathlessly. "How's Gigi and Fitz?"

Darcy was sitting on his couch, wishing that he hadn't had to go back to San Francisco so soon and that he had more time with Lizzie. He was nervous, butterflies in the stomach and all those cliches, when he called her. He had paced back and forth in his living room before he had pressed send on the phone and Gigi - ever so observant - had yelled at him from his room for not already being on the phone.

He had made Gigi promise that a. she wouldn't listen to the conversation and b. she would stay in her room for the duration of the call, which he had promised would only last a few minutes.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the two of them were like giggly teenagers on the phone talking to their first crush. Gigi had broken her promise, rightfully so, to come out to the living room a few times and glare at Darcy. He had moved for her from the couch to his own bedroom, closing the door with a slight kick before lying on his bed.

"I just wish I could thank the person who got the video down," Lizzie said, and Darcy somewhat flinched and was glad she couldn't see him. "Lydia told me to stop worrying about it and it isn't the who that matters but that it is down, but I just feel that the person is kind of like my hero. I don't know, that sounds silly. But if I didn't introduce Lydia to Wickham and have those videos... nothing like that would have happened. You know? I feel like the video was an attack against Lydia and myself and so who ever took it off, I am- as much as Lydia is- completely indebted to them."

Darcy bit his lip and took a breath before he spoke, "I don't think you are, Lizzie, at all. They obviously wanted to do this for you." Darcy had stopped speaking before he realized what he had said, where he left it off and quickly picked back up the conversation. "And obiously Lydia and I think that she's right, it's not about the who but about that it's down and he won't be able to hurt you guys again."

"I know, I just want to personally thank them."

"You have, you said it in your video and I'm sure they know."

Darcy took his hand from the back of his head and placed it on his chest. "Not to change the subject," he slightly lied, "but I wish I had been able to bring you with me last night or at least stayed another night. I feel like our time was cut short, I feel like it is always cut short."

"I know," she said. On her own bed, Lizzie was plucking at her blanket, trying to find a way to occupy her hands. "But last night was really perfect, I really enjoyed myself."

"I did too."

"That restaurant was amazing-"

* * *

It had been two hours since the original phone call, and they were still on the line. Lizzie had taken a break to consult with Jane who was quite shaken up over the fact that Bing had just called her. In that break, Darcy had made his way out of his room, his phone clicked on silent as he waited for Lizzie to come back to the line, and saw Gigi on the couch.

"William, are you really still on the phone?" she said, her voice sounded annoyed but she was smirking. "Are you guys talking about how much you love each other?" she teased, putting a strong emphasis on love before winking. "I'm kidding, I think it's cute."

Darcy went over to her and in an out of character moment, he ruffled his sister's hair. "I'm ignoring all of your comments, Gigi, but figure out where you want to go for dinner."

"I thought you had a meeting?"

"It got pushed back until tomorrow," he said, trying not to convey any emotion.

"Oh? So you could have stayed another day with Lizzie?"

"It was a last minute meeting decision that I made to postpone the meeting," he said, turning away.

Gigi laughed, "You pushed back a meeting so you could talk to your girlfriend on your phone, William? You are hopelessly devoted. Maybe you should have thought of it when you got on the plane last night."

"Dinner, Gigi, think of dinner," he said, before hearing the phone click and Lizzie telling him she was back.

* * *

On Lizzie's side, she had left the phone lying down on her bed after Jane had burst into her room with a shocked look on her face. "He just called, Lizzie. Bing just called and I just stared at my phone and I... do I call him back?"

"I have to go for a few minutes," Lizzie had said with the implication that she intended to call him back. "Do you want me to call you back?"

Darcy had suggested the muting of the phones, a tactic he said he often used in meetings that he didn't want the people on the other line to hear him yawning. And with that, she spoke to a person other than Darcy for the first time in two hours.

"Do you want to call him back?" she asked, following Jane into her room where Jane decided the best action was to just stare at her phone.

"I don't... know."

Lizzie sat on her bed, "Well, Jane, yesterday you were saying he hadn't called you. Maybe he's bugged the house."

"Lizzie," Jane sighed, sitting next to her. "It's just... it is just really hard, Lizzie. I still... feel something for him and I can't erase the summer from my mind but he just gave me up and left me."

Lizzie could see her sister get worked up and she wasn't sure what to say. "Jane, maybe you should talk to him and find out his motives and... I don't know. I think the past few months have showed us that we Bennet sisters are really bad at judging people. And I think we need to open our eyes that others are also susceptible to bad judgements and bad advice."

Jane took a deep breath in and reached for her phone before dropping it back to her bed. "I know you've talked to him but it's not the same as me talking to him."

"So talk to him. Call him back."

It had taken awhile of back and forth before Jane decided that she needed some time alone with the decision before calling (or not calling Bing) and Lizzie retreated back to her room.

* * *

"I don't even know your favorite color," Lizzie said, four hours had now gone by since the call started.

"Plaid," he joked, relishing Lizzie's laughter on the other side of the phone.

"That's not a color," Lizzie laughed, practically gasping for air. "Oh, William."

Darcy smiled at the use of his name, which had gotten more prominent over the course of the phone call. "I know. I don't know, I always switch. I guess blue. Maybe red."

"You do look good in red," she said, her voice lower than it had been, as it often got when she tried her hand at obvious flirting.

Darcy was, of course, oblivious. "Thank you."

"I miss you," Lizzie broke the awkward moment before trying to cover it up with a cough. "I mean, I know we've been talking for... a while, but I don't know. It's not the same."

"Come back to San Francisco," he said, perking on his bed.

"I can't," she said reluctantly.

"I know," he said, resigned to their fate that they both had things to take care of in their respective homes. "I just... I wish it was easier."

There was a knock at his door, "William, I'm hungry, are you done yet?"

Darcy groaned.

"You have to go," Lizzie spoke for him.

"I do," he agreed. "I'm going to dinner with Gigi and it's getting later. I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine," she said, but her voice broke a tad when she said it. "Hopefully we'll get to see each other soon but this was... nice."

"It was, wasn't it? I haven't talked to someone on the phone for so long since high school."

Lizzie smiled from her place on her bed, "Have a good dinner, and give my regards to Gigi."

"I'll call you when I can tomorrow," Darcy told her. "I have a meeting all day but I'll try to get out at a reasonable hour."

"Sounds good..." she said, trailing off as though she had something else to say.

"What is it, Lizzie?" he asked, picking up even though it was over the phone that she was holding something back.

"Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow," she said. "Go get dinner, and good luck in your meeting."

"Good night, Lizzie Bennet," he said.

"Good night," she responding before hitting the end button on the call and laying back on her bed.

"William Darcy," she said to herself and the empty room, "I think I am falling in love with you."


	18. In Which There Is a Birthday Dinner

"Now, William," Mrs. Bennet said in her drawn out way of speaking to those she both wanted to impress and were impressed by. Lizzie winced at her mother's ease at using Darcy's name which she had still trouble speaking without somewhat wincing. "I hear your company is doing very well," she winked over the table as though the two of them shared secrets about Pemberley and Lizzie felt her cheeks become flush. "My Lizzie just couldn't stop talking about it when she so suddenly arrived home a few weeks ago. Pemberley this, Darcy that-"

A loud crash came from the other end of the table where Lydia had knocked over her glass of wine. Mrs. Bennet frowned at her youngest who just shrugged while looking at Lizzie with a mischievous smile that Lizzie took to mean that the wine glass falling hadn't been an accident.

Lizzie mouthed a soundless thank you as she pushed herself away from the table. "I'll go get a rag," she said, heading towards the kitchen where she heard Darcy excuse himself as well. "I am so sorry about this," she said, putting the emphasis on the so as to make it clear that this wasn't what she had planned when he said he would love to come down for her birthday. A family dinner had actually been the last thing on her mind.

* * *

"My flight comes in at noon, is that okay?" he asked, leaning back on his couch after he had hit book on the airline's website.

"Taking commercial? How pedestrian of you," Lizzie teased on the other end. "I only fly private."

Darcy laughed, "I only take it out for special purposes. Wouldn't want to be known as the big spending C.E.O. I'd probably be get labeled a playboy, or whatever they call people in those gossip magazines."

"Well aren't you a playboy?" she joked.

"Of course, I actually just used the jet to see my other girlfriend last weekend. She lives in Paris."

Lizzie scoffed. "That's just mean. That's where my other boyfriend lives and you just reminded me that I can't just get up and fly out to him on a whim."

"Maybe they are secretly dating each other behind our backs," he shot back. The two of them had been casually referring to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend for almost two weeks now but it didn't feel official yet since they hadn't seen each other since Valentine's Day. "But on a serious note, is noon okay?"

"Yeah, I'm dropping off my other boyfriend to fly back to Paris at 11:30 so it is perfect."

"Lizzie."

"I'll be there at noon, Darcy. I'm really..." she paused, trying to find the right word to explain her anticipation of his arrival. "I wish I had a way to make time go faster so I could see you sooner."

"Me too. I wish work hadn't been so busy. But I'll make it up to you for your birthday."

"You've already done enough for me, Darcy," she started. She had been trying to find a way to tell him that she found out he acquired the company that had Lydia's sex tape for a week but she had never found the right time. Maybe she could do it in person.

Darcy frowned as his work phone beeped. "I have to go, Lizzie, but I'll see you soon. I can't wait."

* * *

"Don't be sorry. I find it endearing," Darcy told her, taking the rag she picked up from her hands and wrapping his arms around her waist. "It's nice that you get to have birthday dinner's like this."

Lizzie sighed, "My mom insisted, once she found out that you were coming, that she put on this production for my birthday. It's usually just me and Charlotte, a good movie and some take out."

"Well I think it's nice," he insisted. "It gives me a chance to get to know your family a little better and I've decided that my first impression of your mother was, obviously, a bit wrong but your impressions of her are pretty spot on."

Lizzie pulled away and made a face. "Hey, you can't make fun of her, only I can."

"I was just complimenting your amazing acting skills," he said, kissing her lightly before putting his hand in his pocket. "I don't want to make a big deal out of this but I got you a birthday gift. I didn't know what you wanted so I had Gigi help me. She told me not to tell you that part but I figured you would know anyways."

"You shouldn't have," she said, leaning against the counter. From the dining room, they both heard her mom shouting in, asking where they had gone. "Be right there, Mom!" Lizzie looked at Darcy and took a deep breath. "You really shouldn't have especially since..."

Darcy looked confused, concerned really at her trailing off. He didn't know what she was getting at.

"Especially since Pemberley acquired a certain company that has ties back to my family..." Lizzie said, biting her lower lip and looking away.

"You know?" he asked sheepishly.

* * *

Darcy spotted Lizzie straight away when he entered the arrivals gate. She was holding a homemade sign with his name on it in neon and a chauffeur cap. He instantly grinned as he dropped his bag and engulfed her. "I've missed you so much," he said, burying his head into her shoulder.

Lizzie was almost taken aback by the emotional reaction she had to seeing him in person again. It had been like the month of talking on the phone had only electrified their connection that much more and she could fear little tears of happiness well up in her eyes. When he embraced her, she felt her skin tingle and she took a deep breath before wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm so happy you're here."

She suddenly felt self conscious as though the rest of the airport was glaring at them for their public display of affection, although more G rated than what she had seen while waiting. But it didn't make her pull away, instead she fought her urges to and just pressed herself more into him. "I have some bad news," she groaned, finally stepping away. "I know you said you wanted to go out for dinner but my mom is insisting that she hosts you for dinner."

Darcy tried to keep a happy smile on his face but he was somewhat let down that their evening would involve more people than just the two of them. But it was her birthday and most families do have their own birthday celebrations and he would respect that. He was here until Sunday and that would give them plenty of time to make up for lost time. "That sounds great!" he said, a little too enthusiastically.

"You don't have to lie," she laughed, elbowing him slightly. "We never do anything for birthdays, but you've met my mom. I'm sure she is already planning a wedding and grandchildren's names. I'm not trying to scare you," she stopped, putting a hand up as though she was directing traffic and indicating cars to stop. "It's just what you can expect to hear tonight." She clasped her hands together and brought them above her heart and started talking as though she was doing costume theater, "Oh Mr. Darcy, how many kids do you want? And what will be their names? Oh, no, I do not like that one at all. How about William Jr. and Lizzie Jr. Or maybe you could name them WIlliam Jr and Harry like the royal family. Wouldn't that be darling? Don't take too long, my Lizzie just turned 25 and you know what that means... it means her child bearing years are coming to a close! You must hurry."

Darcy laughed, and covered his face. "I don't think, even if I tried to prepare, I could ever be ready for that conversation. But I'll try. A birthday gift to you."

Lizzie grinned and took his hand, "Don't worry, she won't give you any time to respond. Come on, we should get going. Lydia is waiting for us in the car. She's a questionable driver so... you might want to make sure you buckle your seatbelt."

* * *

"Did Lydia tell you?" he asked, no hint of anger in his voice as Lydia had thought their might have been when Lizzie told her she had found out. Lydia, even though she didn't know Darcy that well, still wanted to be known as an excellent secret keeper and she had promised, and kept that promise, not to tell Darcy about what he had done for Lizzie (and for her).

Lizzie shook her head. "No, I remembered when I sat in on those meetings the talks of a new product that were going to have informational videos on... and I might have Google'd your name a lot... and Domino popped up and I ended up watching them all."

Darcy felt himself turn crimson, "I should have told you, Lizzie."

"No," Lizzie shrugged, "that was up to you. I just want to thank you personally again... I don't know how I can ever begin to repay you."

It was now Darcy's turn to shake his head. "That's why I didn't tell you. I don't want you to think you have to pay me back. This is good for Pemberley." He could see Lizzie wasn't buying his reason, and he didn't even know why he was trying to bluff. "I couldn't see you or your family hurt like that by him," he said, refusing to say his name. "The only way you can repay me is by not bringing it up again that you need to repay me. I don't want you to ever feel that you are indebted to me. I did this from my own free will and because I love you."

Lizzie felt her body shudder at the words. She knew she heard them before, when he first confessed his feelings but hearing them now that she knew she felt the same way was different. It was like the part of her that was missing, just a sliver of a whole, finally made it's way back and she felt a sort of elation. She was beaming when she leaned up to kiss him and heard her mother yelling.

"Lizzie," Mrs. Bennet yelled from the dining room. "The food is getting cold and I'm sure William is hungry from his flight still!"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and took Darcy's hand. "Come on, we should get back before she comes in here." She took a step before turning back to him. "Just... thank you again and not just for that, just for being there for me through all of that. And..." she paused, suddenly becoming nervous.

"And?" he urged her to continue.

"And... Iloveyoutoo," she said, all of her words running together but she could tell from his look that he had heard her. "Come on, let's go face my mother grilling you about your intentions with me together." she said, tugging him towards the dining room.

Before they could even take their seats again, Mrs. Bennet had already started. "So, William," she grinned, putting her elbows on the table as she leaned in closer to him. "How many children do you see yourself having?"


	19. In Which There Is a Hotel Room

"So, how'd I do?" Darcy asked, his back against the hotel rooms door as he tried to slide the key in the reader with out turning around. One arm was wrapped tightly around Lizzie's waist as he nuzzled his forehead into the crook of her neck. His lips danced around from her clavicle to her neck.

Lizzie, a little tipsy from the wine at dinner and the drinks they had stopped for after with Charlotte and Lydia, slightly giggled at how his lips tickled her skin. "I think my mom really liked you, you might have to work on my dad a little more," she teased. "He's not as easily swayed by money and power and good looks." Her fingers ran over his tie, pulling him closer to her. "Do you want me to get the door?" she asked, moving one hand over his and guiding it to the key reader.

"I got it," he said, stubbornly, but made no move to refuse her help. Darcy heard the familiar sound of the lock clicking and he clumsily moved his hand to the doorknob. He opened the door but hadn't accounted for how much he was relying on the door to hold his weight and stumbled back into the room, dropping the key as he tried to keep his balance. Lizzie's foot went out from under her as she kicked the door closed. "I've been waiting to get you alone since I arrived," he said, his hands moving up her back slowly.

Lizzie raised her eyebrows, "Oh, have you? I could hardly tell." Her hands went to his shoulders as she leaned against him and moved her lips to his. Through the kissing, she continued to make noise that somewhat resembled talking. "Those sneaky hands on my thighs didn't get past me, William Darcy."

"You don't think your parents noticed?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"No, they're pretty clueless sometimes. Lydia might have," she answered, moving her hands from his shoulders to the buttons on his shirt. She slowly started unbuttoning them, taking a small step away from him to lock eyes with him while she did it. Her motions were slow but deliberate, this would be their first real night together since they had become whatever complicated relationship title they decided on and she wanted to remember, cherish even, every moment. "I'm really happy you came," she told him, her voice low as she pushed his shirt away from his body and stepped back into him.

Darcy wrapped his arms around her waist, stepping over the shirt and lifting her as she let out a small yelp. "I think you'll be more happy a little bit later." He started walking with her lifted in the air to the bed.

* * *

"So, Darcy," Lydia said, sipping her insanely expensive drink that she had ordered just because Darcy insisted on paying for the four of them, "do you have any cute and single and rich friends?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and Charlotte almost spit out her beer but Darcy just smiled. "I'll have to go through my phone book," he answered as Lizzie squeezed his hand as she sat next to him.

"Not for me," Lydia laughed, pressing her hands against her chest as though she was shocked that anyone would think the question was for her. "I was talking about for Charlotte," she stressed. "We all thought Ricky Collins was just making up his girlfriend and would end up with Charlotte but now that that isn't the case... well, don't you think she would make quite the catch."

Lizzie caught the quick wink that Lydia sent her way from across the table and she smiled back at her younger sister. She was instantly appreciative that Lydia was trying so hard to get along with Darcy and she attributed to the fact that her and Lydia really had some great sisterly time these last few weeks. It was true what they said, that tragedy could bring people together or tear them apart and it really had brought Lizzie closer to her younger sister, even if they were unfortunate circumstances.

She moved in closer to Darcy, who responded by resting his hand on her thigh, running his fingers in circles against the fabric of her jeans. "That's a great idea, Darcy," she said, smiling up at him as she placed her hand over his. "Charlotte is quite a catch."

"It's too bad Bing is currently taken," he joked.

"Um, hello, I'm sitting right here," Charlotte interjected, "and I really don't need any setting up from either of you. I'm quite busy with my work right now, with Ricky moving up to Canada."

Lizzie shrugged, "All work and no play makes Charlotte lame."

"I'm going to have to change my list of reasons Lizzie Bennet is perpetually single to reasons why Charlotte Lu is perpetually single... whaaaat," Lydia teased.

"Okay, okay, there is only so much damage you guys can do to my self esteem," she joked. "Another round?" Charlotte asked, pointing to the three empty glasses and the one that Darcy was currently finishing off. "My treat?"

Darcy reached in his back pocket and got more money out, "No, it's your birthday and my girlfriend's birthday and it's my treat."

At the words 'my girlfriend', Lydia made a face and pushed Charlotte out of the booth, "I'll come with you to the bar, they're being gross." As they were walking away, Lydia turned around to face Lizzie and Darcy and smirked. "We're doing SHOTS!"

While they were gone, Darcy turned to Lizzie, his fingers still resting on her thigh, and getting dangerously higher. He pressed his lips to her jawline and Lizzie didn't resist- even though PDA was against all of her principals (and Darcy's on a normal night). "I can't wait to get you home," he breathed into her ear as Lizzie met his lips with her own.

* * *

Darcy's hand pushed it's way up Lizzie's dress to the top of her tights and started to pull them down before she said the one word no man really wants to hear, but Darcy was a real man and of course respected her wishes. "Wait, Darcy... stop," she said, pushing his hand away.

"Lizzie, we don't have to do... you know, this," he told her, pulling himself out of the moment and rolling over next to her.

She shook her head. "No, no, I want to do... this," she assured him. "And tonight, I just... I don't know, I just want to it to be perfect. Do you think they have like candles downstairs? Or we could just turn off the light and turn on the smaller one?"

"Lizzie, what's wrong?" he asked, pushing a piece of hair out of her face as he turned on his side to look at her. "If this isn't how you want it, we can stop... but this is perfect for me just because you're with me."

She let out a sigh of relief as she scooted her body closer to his. "I don't know, I guess I'm just worried since it's our first time with each other and it's been a couple of months of talking on the phone... I just don't want you to be disappointed."

"Me? Be disappointed? Lizzie Bennet, I could never be disappointed in you and nothing that I could imagine in my head could ever compare to the real thing. To this-" he said, stopping as he kissed her, first slowly and then it was as though the same carnal desire came over them at the same time because they both forgot about Lizzie's previous worries and let their bodies do the rest of the talking.

Darcy's hand groped at her hair as she rolled herself on top of him, letting her legs rest on either side of them, kissing his jawline down his neck, slightly tugging at the skin of his shoulder. Darcy let out a soft noise and moved his hand to the zipper of her dress, tugging it down as the fabric fell off her body.

And then he said the words that really reassured her that this was right and that everything was going to be fine.

"I love you, Lizzie Bennet."

* * *

"We called you a cab," Lydia said, coming back over to the table with four shots on a tray while Charlotte tried to balance four beers on another tray. "Because this is disgusting," she pointed at the two of them as they pulled away from the lip lock they had been engaged in while Charlotte and Lydia went to get the alcohol. "But first, shots!" she said, putting one of the bright red colored shots in front of them.

Darcy made a face, "I haven't done a shot since college."

"Wussy," Charlotte teased, smirking at Lizzie who then nudged him in the side. "Shots and cheers." Charlotte took her shot glass in her hand, "To my best friend in the entire world for finding a guy who makes her so completely happy that she forgot about our golden dating rule number one of no PDA."

Lizzie made a face at her best friend but took her shot in her hand, "To my baby sister Lydia," she said, looking over at Lydia who took her seat again. "For surprising me on just how cool she really is. You've taught me a lot about both me and you and I'm glad we've gotten closer."

"Aw sis," Lydia said, wiping away a fake tear. "To Darcinator, for not being as lame as I once thought."

Darcy picked up his shot, albeit quite reluctantly, "And to Charlotte, on both your promotion and your birthday."

Lydia bounced in the booth, "Ready... 1... 2... 3." They all lifted the shots to their mouths and downed them quickly and the four of them each made a face. "Ugh almost as disgusting as that time I witnessed Darcy's tongue down my sister's throat. But your cab is probably here so go do that on your own time."

"Then who are those two other drinks for?" Lizzie asked, raising her eyebrow.

Lydia and Charlotte both smiled before pointing to two guys down the bar. "We made friends, now go!"

Darcy didn't have to be told twice as he slid out of the booth seat and took Lizzie's hand in his. Lizzie quickly hugged both her sister and her best friend goodbye and followed Darcy to the door, but not before Lydia could shout out from behind them to not do anything she wouldn't do. Lizzie smiled, her sister was slowly coming back to her pre-George self, and that made Lizzie happier than almost anything.

* * *

Lizzie looked at Darcy, her breath still slightly shallow, and rolled to her side. "You were right, that was so much better than I had been imagining," she teased, giving him a light kiss before snuggling into his shoulder. "I didn't know nice guys knew all those tricks."

"There's a lot you don't know, Lizzie," he joked before kissing her again and wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Good night, Lizzie."

"Good night, William," she smiled, closing her eyes as she pressed her head into his arm. "I love you."


End file.
